


Don't Let Them In

by Zhenya66



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: ...Don't read at dark or when alone...friendly advise..., Angst, Character Study, F/M, Future Character Death, Horror, M/M, Psychological Horror, major suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-06-09 19:17:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 55,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6919744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zhenya66/pseuds/Zhenya66
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“ I want you to fear the things you know to the point of pain. I want to make you fear the things you never thought could be so scary. Every creak, every movement or flicker. I want to push you off the cliff of loneliness and despair. I want you to remember that fear, if you end up alive. And if I’m doing a bad job, tell me. Tell me, so I can make the ride for you just as frightening as it is for the others.”</p><p> -They had been planning the trip for two weеks now. Tetsurou would check the weather whenever possible in fear of rain or too much snow, Koutarou would pack everything he deemed necessary, resulting into almost taking half of his many belongings with him. At first Suguru turned down the offer, but when Mika said that he never took her anywhere, he gulped down his pride and said that he just might join them for the weekend vacation. Yukie found the perfect hotel for them, Keiji arranged their reservations. Kenma just watched them from afar and wondered how a two day stay in the middle of the forest could be so interesting….</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is it! This is officially the fic I will be working on after "Dead End"! This idea came to me so suddenly, but it was so great, I jumped out of my bed and ran to write it down! I want to get you so scared with this. I thought a lot about it. I mean, this morning my sister woke up before me and came to see if I was awake. My door has a little window on the top and my sister was looking through it when I woke up and even though I recognized her right away I lay there, staring at the top of her head and her eyes and I was so frightened! I want you guys to feel the same effect! I mean, this story is so cliche, the setting and everything isn't something new, but I want you to fear just that! I want you to know what'll happen, but feel anxious even so! If you don't feel that, please tell me so I can try harder! I mean, I'm so eager to do just that! I'll be thankful if you comment on this! ^^  
> Hop on and enjoy the ride!  
> PS. Today is really foggy and rainy outside and my dad has the terrible habit to slap my thigh when I sit beside him and he's driving. There's no prob if you have some more muscles there, but his hand is so heavy and my thighs are so soft and jiggly, I feel tears come to my eyes when he does it. Also, I'll use their given names in this, since I don't know Mika-chan's surname.

The windows of the car were fogged and the outside could barely be seen. The heater in the car was turned on to its highest setting. Keiji had taken off his jacket in fear of getting sweaty, then catching a cold after getting out of the car. Tetsurou hadn’t bothered to take off his, while Kenma didn’t care. The radio was turned off because he didn’t like it when Tetsurou decided to sing along with the terrible pop songs that normally ran on it. The only sound among the three was the soft buzzing of the working heater. Kenma had settled in the back seat, engulfed in the latest level of his game, Keiji leaned his head against the sweaty yet cold window in the front seat beside Tetsurou’s, staring absently through the glass at the rock covered road beneath the car. Tetsurou would occasionally sigh, concentrating on the road ahead, or would look in the side mirror to see if Koutarou was following them with his own car. They could have taken only one, that was a simple fact. If Koutarou hadn’t brought so much unneeded luggage, maybe all of their stuff could fit in the back of Tetsurou’s car. It might have been a bit crowded, but they could have worked it out. Tetsurou would drive, Koutarou would take the seat beside his, Keiji would sit in his lap. Kenma would stay in the back, Yukie beside him, Mika would sit in Suguru’s lap. That was a good idea, if Tetsurou could drive while Suguru sat in the back. He knew he was a frequent backseat driver. Especially when he couldn’t drive him self. Tetsurou gave Koutarou points for standing him.

 With another sigh, Tetsurou allowed him self to clasp a heavy hand on Keiji’s thigh, making the younger jump. Kenma didn’t seem interested. Tetsurou would occasionally do the same to him while they were on road trips. It didn’t bother him one bit that he was turning that habit on Keiji, who also didn’t seem to mind the warm hand on his thigh and continued to look out of the window.

 Tetsurou rubbed Keiji’s thigh, gave it a soft squeeze, before taking back his hand and setting it over the driver’s wheel again.

 “Are your thighs getting thicker or am I imagining it?” he asked with grin, looking at the road ahead.

 “I workout.” Keiji absently said. Of course he did, but up to now never really wondered if that had any other effect than simply keeping him in good shape. Upping his physical ability a bit was something that worked in his favor.

 “No, seriously. There’s a huge difference if I have to compare you to Kenma.”

 Kenma only gave an affirmative hum from the backseat when he heard his name, too caught up in his game to think of an actual replay or come back.

 “Thanks.” Keiji fell silent for a moment, before looking at the beeping GPS device on the dashboard of the car. He traced the way of the moving red dot which had to be the car. Tetsurou had set the hotel they would be staying at as their final destination before they took of the same morning. Since then they had stopped only once for lunch, but otherwise they hadn’t stopped anywhere. Koutarou on the other hand had stopped multiple times, always managing to catch up to them after. That’s what happened when they drove with the girls, Keiji thought. Sitting in the car and watching the passing surroundings had become tiring and Keiji wanted to get to the hotel already.

 “How much more do we need to drive?” he asked and saw Tetsurou rub his neck, sending the GPS a quick glance.

 “We’re almost there.” he quickly answered.

 “I can’t believe this road is present on the GPS.” Keiji mused and Tetsurou grinned again.

 “It leads to a popular hotel after all. Of course it’ll be on the GPS. By the way, for such a great hotel, it’s pretty far.”

 “I checked its website. It’s a nice place. The rooms are clean, they have a restaurant, Shirofuku-san even mentioned something about hot springs.”

 “That’s even better! I haven’t been to hot springs in a while! The price turned out pretty good too.”

 “Yes, considering that breakfast and dinner are also included.”

 “That’s how every business should be run. Low prices, but good quality. All you need after that is for the rumors to spread about what you have to offer and you can rest assure.”

 “I agree, Kuroo-san.”

 “I really wish that the weather’s good.” Tetsurou continued. “So we can go hiking.”

 “You checked the weather didn’t you?”

 “I did. It’s supposed to be a bit cloudy, but otherwise no rain or snow. This isn’t Tokyo though, so I don’t really know.”

 “I hope that the fog lifts by tomorrow at least.”

 “You’re right.”

 Tetsurou gave Keiji’s thigh another harsh pat, before concentrating entirely on the road ahead again.

 

 Keiji had spoken to a nice woman over the phone when he made their reservations. When he walked into the lobby of the hotel however, behind the reception sat a not much older than him man, who was speaking cheerily with someone over the phone on the desk in front of him. Behind him, Mika and Yukie spoke cheerfully about what they would do once they settled in, constantly mentioning the hotel’s spa and a walk around the forest. Testurou, Koutarou and Suguru had stayed outside to get their many bags, while Kenma stayed with them, leaving Keiji to take their room keys from the reception.

 When he neared the bureau, the young man behind the desk quickly ended his call with a quick “ _I’ll call you later_ ” and turned towards Keiji with a large, friendly smile. Keiiji’s eyes flickered over to the name tag on the man’s chest, noticing also his perfectly ironed black jacket and the crisp white shirt underneath it.

 “Welcome to Date hotel, my name is Futakuchi Kenji, how may I assist you?” the receptionist greeted with practiced ease, but unlike many others with whom Keiji had spoken to in similar situations, Futakuchi’s friendliness didn’t seem at all fake.

 “Yes, well, I made a reservation last week. On the name of Bokuto Koutarou.” He never really liked giving his name when making reservations. It felt like he was underrating Koutarou’s superiority in their relationship. “I spoke to a colleague of yours, about four rooms.”

 “Wait a second so I can check!”

 The friendly receptionist turned towards the computer on the desk and Keiji waited patiently as he did his work.

 “Four rooms, three double ones, all of them on the forth floor.” Confirmed Futakuchi and looked up at Keiji, looking for affirmation. Keiji nodded quickly. “Alright, let me get the keys! Rooms 16, 18, 19 and 24 are yours. If you ever need anything, the reception works all night so feel free to ask me or my colleague. Maybe you spoke with her on the phone.”

 Keiji nodded and took the little keys, which Futakuchi slid over the desk towards him.

 “Thank you.” He politely said and turned towards the happily talking Mika and Yukie, who stood a few steps away. “You can go and see the rooms, I’ll go help with the bags.” He told them and the two quickly took the keys from him.

 When Keiji walked out of the hotel again, he was met with such thick fog, it was hard to say where the parking lot of the hotel ended and where the forest road began. Despite the promises of good weather, it didn’t seem like the damp air would clear soon. That would shrink their list of outdoor activities to only a few. It was almost as cold as in winter as well, despite being only the middle of autumn. Keiji rubbed his arms to keep warm, as he walked towards the place where they had parked the two cars. The foggy and cold weather didn’t quite set him in the mood for a fun friendly time and he hoped to get settled in his hotel room (which he would share with Koutarou) as soon as possible and maybe take a hot shower after that. Spending the remaining hours before dinner with reading seemed like a nice idea as well, though he was certain Koutarou would make him go outside on a walk after they were settled.

 The hotel was made to look like a mountain cottage on the outside. The walls were painted in a caramel color, while the window frames were rounded with dark wood, varnished with colorless polish. The roof of the hotel was made out of the same wood, again resembling that of a cottage. The hot springs were supposed to be behind the main building. The restaurant was in a building of its own. The parking lot and the entire complex were surrounded by the tall pain trees, which grew around. Despite the few other cars on the parking lot, Keiji was left with the impression that they were the only people, except the staff, in the entire complex. Tetsurou and Koutarou’s loud voices echoed around the parking lot and rang deep into the forest as they laughed, making Keiji shiver as he walked closer to the two cars.

 “Do you need any help?” he asked, seeing as Suguru was struggling to take out all of Koutarou’s bags from the back of their car. “I told Bokuto-san not to pack all of that for two days.”

 “Akaashi!” Koutarou yelled out in offence, looking at Keiji. “I took all of that to be comfortable!”

 “Please don’t yell so much…” Keiji softly said, looking around the parking lot and again rubbing his arms. He couldn’t help but shudder as Koutarou’s loud voice echoed around him, ringing in his ears. On regular basis he liked Koutarou’s a bit raspy yet deep voice, but now, he felt too nervous and his boyfriend’s voice echoing around him only edged his nerves more. “Bokuto-san, you took your pillow and a set of covers. The hotel has enough.”

 “But their not like mine! They don’t smell like mine! You know I can’t sleep on a different pillow, not to mention that my neck will get sore if I do!” Koutarou continued in his normally loud voice, as if he hadn’t heard Keiji’s soft plea to keep it down.

 “You should’ve taken your mattress too, so your back won’t suffer.” Suguru quietly muttered behind him, wincing as he tried to lift the suitcase Mika normally traveled with, if they ever did on anniversaries or other special occasions.

 “Want help with that?” Keiji offered, but, Suguru being him self waved him off and tried to lift his own bag as well.

 “I got this.” He winced again and later growled when Tetsurou laughed. He had it better than him. He and Kenma had brought only a fairly small, and equally empty, suitcase and a light travel bag, so he could carry both in one hand if he wanted.

 “Kenma, help Akaashi carry the lighter bags to the rooms.” Tetsurou said, after his laughter died down, looking towards Kenma, who still sat in the back of their car, engulfed in is game. “We’ll get the heavier stuff and be there in a bit.”

 “Fine…” Kenma sighed, turned off his game and, after pushing the device in the pocket of his jacket, stepped out of the car, closing the door behind him.

 Keiji took his bags and the red sports bag Yukie had brought her stuff in, while Kenma took his bag from Tetsurou. The two started to walk through the deserted parking lot towards the large glass doors of the hotel, listening to the loud, ringing chatter behind them. Keiji again began to feel nervous. He felt as if he was being watched and even though he was a very rational person with a fresh and logical mind, he couldn’t help but look around, trying to see if there really was some unwanted intruder who followed every step of his from the thick trees surrounding them. Of course he saw nothing more than fog and trees. He tried to shake off the feeling of paranoia, but somehow he couldn’t. Not entirely.

 Noticing his odd behavior, Kenma stopped beside him and threw him a questioning glance.

 “Is something the matter?” he asked, his voice soft. It felt almost like his words got lost in the fog between him and Keiji.

 “Nothing.” Keiji quickly answered, moving his bag over his shoulder so he could hold it more comfortably. “The weather is just too depressing I guess.”

 “You feel it too, don’t you?” Kenma asked, just as softly as before, walking beside Keiji again. Keiji looked at him with a raised brow when he spoke.

 “What do you mean?”

 Kenma didn’t answer for a moment, no doubt thinking what exactly to say now that he had started the odd conversation. A few steps away from the entrance of the hotel he stopped again.

 “Like someone’s watching.” He said, a bit louder so Keiji could hear him clearly over the fog between them. “Like we’re alone in the whole forest, but someone's watching.”

 “I guess…There’s something like that…” Keiji admitted, again looking around despite the knowledge that nothing was looking at him from the trees and fog. “But it’s just from the weather. The fog’s…It’s the fog’s fault. Tomorrow when it lifts it’ll be better.”

 “I hope.” Kenma muttered and Keiji hurried to catch up to him, so they can walk through the glass doors together.

 Futakuchi Kenji, the friendly receptionist, was again talking on the phone, just like the first time Keiji saw him. He waved at them with a smile as they passed the reception desk to walk up the stairs towards the forth floor where their rooms were and Keiji returned the gesture with a polite nod. While walking up the stairs he remembered the receptionist’s words. The reception worked all day and night, meaning that there would always be someone behind the desk if they need anything. The simple thought made Keiji a bit more relaxed. He wouldn’t allow him self to think unnecessary things on one of the little vacations Koutarou took him on.

 Everything was the fog’s fault. It played with his mind. Made him see things, made every little sound louder than it should be. Tomorrow, when it disappeared, he would have breakfast with everyone, would drink a cup of refreshing coffee and take a hot shower. He would go out on a walk with Koutarou around the hotel, they would play some volleyball behind the main building if the sun was up and then have lunch. Two days, Keiji reminded him self. Two days with Koutarou in the mountain, in a four star hotel with a refreshing company. He wouldn’t let his mind ruin his good time.


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I could post a chapter a day on normal basis. Of course, the chapters are still short, but will soon grow longer. I find the short chapters in horror stories really thrilling though! I hope this has the same success as "Dead End"! Tell me what you guys think!  
> For now, enjoy chapter 2! We're getting to the good part of this, I can't wait!~

 After changing the sheets of the double bed with the ones Koutarou brought (he had never felt so embarrassed and swore never to do it again), Keiji took a hot shower, turning down his boyfriend’s offer to go hiking. He felt the urge to tell him to be careful, not to go anywhere far from the hotel, but in the end decided against that. He felt relieved when Koutarou told him they would be taking the car, proving his worries useless to begin with.

 Just as he had planned, Keiji spent the few hours before dinner reading in the modernly decorated hotel room. Much like the façade of the building, the room was also painted in a soft caramel color, the two armchairs and little love seat opposite to the bed were of dark chocolate leather, the coffee table, wardrobe, the two bedside tables and the dresser on which sat a modern plasma TV were also made of dark wood, similar to the floorboards. Most of the floor was covered with a soft, beige carpet, which matched the color of the curtains and the bed covers. The room gave out a feeling of comfort and it was a pleasure for Keiji to spend the afternoon on the soft bed, considering the bad weather outside.

 Koutarou returned two hours later and Keiji learned that he, Tetsurou and, by some strange turn of fate, Suguru, had spent the time which he had used to read with a bit of off road driving. Keiji nearly lost it then. He knew Koutarou and Tetsurou were suckers for strong emotions and if they had a car on their hands and a good bumpy road to drive on, they wouldn’t miss out the chance to fulfill their dangerous wishes. The thought about the delusive fog and the eyes looking at him earlier on the parking lot again came to Keiji’s mind like a wave and he couldn’t believe how childishly his boyfriend had acted. Thank god no accidents had happened, however the ride did have a terrible effect on Suguru’s stomach. Later that night on dinner he barely touched his food, in favor of glaring at Tetsurou and Koutarou, who talked with great satisfaction about their adventurous car ride, not bothering to leave out the details (some of which greatly disturbed Mika, who had grown oddly protective of her boyfriend while in their company).

 The restaurant of the hotel was just as luxurious as the rooms and Keiji still couldn’t believe the low price of their reservations. The tables and chairs were of the same dark wood as the furniture in Keiji’s room. The tables were covered with white covers, on the edges of which were embroidered gentle flower patterns. In the center of every table sat a glass vase with white flowers and judging by their aroma, they weren’t fake. Beside the vases sat a small glass, in the center of which glowed a small, round candle. The windows were covered with beige curtains, matching the wallpaper. The warm atmosphere was topped only by the food they were served. Engulfed in the friendly chatter between them, Keiji almost forgot about the horrible feeling he had a few hours ago. Almost forgot about the paranoia and loneliness he felt earlier on the parking lot. The feeling that he was being watched back then was now gone, replaced with the pleasant feeling of warmth and delight.

 Unfortunately, his mind didn’t let him rest for long. This time the problem didn’t come in the form of overwhelming paranoia, but from a very rational observation. Beside their friendly group, there was almost no one in the entire restaurant. The tables remained unoccupied and lonely, while their voices were the only ones that could be heard, aside from those of the chattering waitresses near the bar. The more Keiji thought about it, the more he lost his appetite. He looked around their table to see if anyone else had noticed the strange emptiness of the restaurant, but everyone seemed too engulfed in their conversation to do so. It was strange for the restaurant to be this empty, Keiji figured. The hotel, as he had seen in its website, had been wildly popular through the summer for its refreshing and calming spot in the forest. The restaurant also worked separately from the hotel, so people who had decided to continue up the road towards a camping spot could stop by and have lunch there before that. The staff was friendly and well mannered. Keiji had seen only positive comments in the website, from visitors who had came in both the winter and summer season. Seeing such a popular hotel so empty and deserted made Keiji wonder what the cause for it was. Of course, the visitors could be too tired (or lazy) to come to the restaurant for dinner and preferred to order room service. Many of them could be relaxing in the hot springs as well. Just because Keiji hadn’t seen anyone around since their arrival didn’t mean they were really alone in the entire complex.

 After dinner the girls decided to check out the famous hot springs. Koutarou and Tetsurou were up for a little warm water as well and of course tried to drag Keiji and Kenma along, but Keiji really wanted to lay down for a bit, while Kenma wasn’t a fan of the hot water and getting naked in front of anyone unnecessary. Suguru had decided to call it a day already as well.

 While walking through the lobby of the hotel, Keiji noticed the absence of the friendly receptionist Futakuchi. Everything was oddly quiet and that did nothing to ease Keiji’s mind. He didn’t, however, try to share his fears and unease with Kenma or Suguru, with whom he walked towards their rooms on the forth floor. He already knew Kenma might have felt something similar to what he did when they first arrived at the hotel and would probably understand him, but Suguru was stubborn. And they weren’t close enough for Keiji to feel comfortable spilling his soul in front of him. He had to work things out on his own, otherwise he risked ruining the vacation for the others and that was something he didn’t want to do.

 

 When Koutarou returned from the hot springs, Keiji decided to walk to the reception and order a bottle of either wine or champagne for them. Through the curtains in their room he could see the fog slowly lifting and the clouds over the sky breaking apart, allowing him to catch a glimpse of the stars and moon behind them. Keiji felt him self relax again. If the weather tomorrow was nice, they would go on a walk after breakfast then have a little fun in the indoor pool of the hotel. After lunch they had planned on playing some volleyball and then going out for another walk around the hotel. Keiji really hoped the weather was nice enough for that.

 In the hall of the forth floor, he met Yukie. She wore nothing but a thin, lightly colored shirt and white, loosely fitting sweatpants. Her short hair was damp from the visit to the hot springs.

 “I guess I forgot my hairdryer at home.” She explained, “I don’t really want to bother Mika-chan for hers though. Do you think they have one at the reception?”

 “They have to.” Keiji said with a short shrug, walking towards her. “If not, I think I have one in my bag. I’ll lend it to you.”

 “You’re golden Akaashi!” Yukie mused as the two walked down the hall, then down the stairs towards the third floor. Their steps were softened by the light chestnut carpet covering the beige floorboards. Keiji wondered if the entire hotel was colored in the same color palate as his room. With beige, dark chocolate and light chestnut. It was indeed fitting for a hotel so deep in the forest, but where were the guests? Where were the owners of the few other cars parked in front with theirs? That thought refused to leave him, as much as he tried to rid him self of it through the terribly long and silent walk towards the lobby.

 This time, behind the desk stood a young woman. The name on her tag read Nametsu Mai and Keiji thought that she was the one he spoke to last week for the reservations. She looked just as nice and friendly as Futakuchi and the rest of the hotel’s staff. She smiled politely when they came up to the desk, introduced her self just like Futakuchi had, with the same ease, then patiently listened to their requests. She informed Keiji that they had a wide majority of red and white wines and a not so big, but still bigger than most hotels’ champagne choice. Keiji settled down for a bottle of Merlot and decided to order a bottle of sprinkled water as well, for Koutarou. After the receptionist gave Yukie a hairdryer from a cabinet somewhere behind the reception, she walked towards an oak door behind her to get what Keiji had asked for.

 Once she returned with the dark glass bottle of wine and a silver tray with two wine glasses, the clear bottle of sprinkled water and a glass bowl of ice resting on its polished surface, Keiji couldn’t help but ask why the hotel was so empty. He asked it with much more ease than he originally expected from him self. He sounded casual, which was good. The question however seemed to have stricken Nametsu in a bad way. Her eyes widened and she almost dropped the tray with the glasses and ice, wasn’t it for Keiji who reached out over the counter of the reception to help her hold it. Her strong reaction made him reconsider his sudden question. He really didn’t want to know anymore.

 “There’s no such thing, Akaashi-san.” Nametsu quickly said, once the tray and wine bottle were safely sat on the clean surface of the counter between them. “Of course, we don’t have that many guests since it’s out of the season. Right now we have six other visitors excluding you. Three of them are supposed to leave tomorrow morning. Most of them are elderly couples looking to spend their anniversaries here, so it shouldn’t bother you that they decide to spend most of their time in their rooms. I assure you, most of them are either in the restaurant dining, or relaxing in the hot springs.”

 “I just noticed how quiet the place was.” Keiji said with the same casual tone with which he would lead any other conversation. “I wasn’t really expecting it to be so…calm. Even before the season.”

 “As I said, most of out visitors are elderly couples, looking for some outdoor relaxation.” Nametsu continued, her voice lightening up again, as her smile returned. “Our restaurant however is quite crowded during the weekends due to the many travelers that stop by for lunch when they go camping.”

 She sounded pressured again. Or rather, as if she was reciting a specially written and prepared script for when the question popped up. The paranoia caught up to Keiji again and he was almost certain that something lay hidden behind the friendly smile of the receptionist. Had he felt the same when talking to Futakuchi Kenji, or was his mind still rational and functioning back then? Nametsu looked ready to reassure Keiji and completely end his doubts and questions. That was something he didn’t understand or like.

 He silently thanked Yukie when she ended their disturbing conversation by thanking Nametsu for the hairdryer. She helped Keiji by taking the already opened bottle of red wine while he took the silver tray from the counter. He quickly thanked the receptionist and wished her a good night, receiving a polite replay and more reassurance from her. Soon he was walking up the stairs towards the forth floor again, with Yukie by his side. The feeling of dread and paranoia again crawled over him like an insistent spider, ready to throw him in its web. All he hoped was that the wine and a little alone time with Koutarou would help him relax and finally enjoy his vacation.

 

 Kenma was woken up by a soft tapping noise, but couldn’t exactly figure out where it was coming from at first. He was still mostly asleep and with the help of Tetsurou’s soft breaths and the warmth his body provided he would again fall in the clutches of his dreamless slumber before thinking twice about it.

 For a moment the noise disappeared and Kenma was ready to believe he had imagined it. He brought the heavy covers closer to his body and tried to find a more comfortable spot beneath Tetsurou’s strong arm, which kept him secure to his chest. They rarely slept like that due to Tetsurou’s unusual sleeping habits, but there was nothing more pleasurable for Kenma than waking up so close to him in the morning.

 On the brink of sleep, Kenma heard the noise again. This time he wasn’t imagining it. It was definitely there, soft and quiet, but insistent.

 Kenma groaned softly, opening one eye to look at the digital clock on the bedside table. The large red numbers read 01:23. The room was dark. The only sores of light came from the clock and the window, the curtains of which Kenma swore Tetsurou closed before nestling beside him into bed. The light from outside shone through the clean glass, forming a crooked square on the floor and half of the wall opposite to the window. He tried to lift a hand from under Tetsurou’s to rub his eyes. The sleep was slowly drifting away from him, but the noise had stopped again.

 When he heard it again, the soft tapping sound, which was coming as if from every direction, from the inside of the walls even, Kenma was about to close his eyes and try to go back to sleep. The moment the rhythmical _tap tap tap_ returned, his eyes shot open. By that point, Kenma still wasn’t afraid. Of course, he didn’t really like the hotel. He felt as if he was under a microscope, as if someone was studying his every little move and that made him feel unpleasantly aware. But now he was comfortable and didn’t appreciate being taken out so forcefully of his pleasant sleep. If anything, the fear and anxiety he was supposed to feel were replaced with annoyance.

 Kenma looked around the little part of the room he could see, not moving from his spot in fear of waking Tetsurou up. The insistent tapping continued, just as quiet and maddening as it had been when it woke Kenma up. No matter how much he tried to find its sores in the room however, he couldn’t.

 His eyes roamed every inch they could find, every little shadow, every gap between the furniture. Then they stopped their search on the moonlight square on the floor of the room. The square was separated into four smaller ones by the frame of the window, but the thing that caught Kenma’s attention was the small shadow in the bottom of the second small square to the right of the figure. Something was indeed watching him from the window of their room. Something which had decided to hide bellow the window, but Kenma could see the top of its head. It didn’t move from its hiding spot, but the tapping continued and now Kenma realized that it was coming from the window. The noise echoed around the room, creating the terrible feeling that it was coming from everywhere. Whatever was outside Kenma’s window, it wanted to get in.

  _No_. It was begging to be let in. It was _knocking_ , asking for _invitation_.

 Kenma’s eyes widened and he barely kept in the scream of fear which tried to crawl out of his throat. His breathing grew shallow and frantic. He didn’t dare move or turn around to see the being behind the window. Kenma didn’t want to see it, he was by now afraid to.

 His fingers groped over the covers of the bed in search of Tetsurou’s hand. Kenma watched with as much fascination as fear as the being behind the window slowly rose from its hiding spot under the frame. It stopped only when its eyes appeared. Despite being only a shadow, Kenma could clearly see the glowing red, perfectly round orbs in the middle of the shadow on the floor. As if the being its self was no more than a shadow with glowing red eyes in the center of what had to be its face. Kenma’s blood turned cold, his heart beat so fast, it became painful. He squeezed Tetsurou’s hand and tightly shut his eyes.

 There was another series of slow, rhythmical taps, this time louder, more insistent, before the noise disappeared completely. Kenma didn’t know if the being was still behind the window, still watching him, but he didn’t turn around to check, nor did he open his eyes, too afraid of what he could see. He cowered under the heavy covers, fingers still trembling over the hot skin of Tetsurou’s hand.

 The clock on the nightstand now showed half pass one. All sleep had fled from Kenma and refused to return. Kenma was scared that if it did, it would be pledged with nightmares filled with moving shadows and red round eyes.

 The thing Kenma feared most now was the insistent, rhythmical and maddening _tap tap tap_.


	3. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you find this chapter nice and scary! To be honest, I already think at least two chapters ahead and found my self scared out of my sleep. I swear, I enjoy writing horror and suspense, but if I continue like this, I'll get my self a paranoid disorder until I finish high school! I'm only 16, my mind isn't yet developed enough! That's why, I'll write this only day time! After 7 pm I'll work on something fluffy or cheerful (i doubt I'll do it, knowing my self)!!! I hope you like this story so far, It'll get a lot better!  
>  PS. If you want to make the experience scarier with a bit of sound, then I advise you to listen to the Resident Evil theme by Marilyn Manson, it gets me in the mood to write. You might also like to try reading this on the theme of The Uninvited, I got inspired to write this fic mainly from its cover image! Another song I consider fitting for this fic is I saw you die by Apollo Drive, but maybe you'll understand why in the next two chapters!  
> Until then, enjoy!  
> (( Also, there is no bigger joy than playing pepper in the forest with your friends. First hand knowledge. ))

 The next morning they met in the hall of the forth floor and headed out for breakfast. While passing by the reception, Keiji again saw Futakuchi behind the desk. Perhaps he worked only day time, while Nametsu took the night shift. Keiji suppressed the desire to ask him about his colleague’s odd behavior yesterday evening and continued towards the glass doors of the exit.

 The fog had lifted and the only signs of bad weather were the dark clouds above the trees. The fog seemed to have taken the persistent feeling of paranoia and loneliness with its self as well and now Keiji felt like he could take a deep breath of fresh mountain air without fearing that someone (or something) might be watching him from the thick forest over the road or around the parking lot.

 They met no other guests while walking towards the restaurant and, just as Keiji feared, no guests were down for breakfast as well. Except the waitresses and their group, there was no one else in the whole restaurant and while dinner could be served until eleven o’clock, the serving of the breakfast ended quite early. The little guests except them in the hotel had to be down no later than nine if they wanted to eat. Judging by the emptiness of the restaurant however, they either weren’t early birds like them, or had a terribly low appetite.

 After breakfast Koutarou drove Yukie and Mika to the mini-market they had come across on their way to the hotel. The forest road they took to get to the complex led to normally crowded highway. A few meters down the highway there was an exit which led to the around-the-clock mini-market, which also served as a gas station. After breakfast the group had decided to go on a walk and have lunch somewhere in forest, therefore Mika and Yukie’s little trip sought to get the needed groceries for a nice and filling lunch.

 At first Keiji didn’t take the idea of walking around the forest as a particularly good one. Of course, without the fog, he felt a lot more relaxed, but that still didn’t mean he was ready to venture beyond the hotel grounds. He didn’t try to voice his worries, thinking that he really was imagining everything and would just ruin everyone’s good time if he interfered, but the same didn’t go for Kenma, who was the first and only one who went against the idea of going on a forest walk. Keiji knew that Kenma wasn’t a very talkative person and his fears of being misunderstood by those around him kept him from stating his opinion most of the time, therefore for him to say so openly that he wanted to stay behind in his hotel room rather than go with them was a surprise. Whatever had made him voice his wish had to be taken into consideration as well.

 When Koutarou tried to make him rethink his decision of staying in the hotel, Kenma pulled Tetsurou away from their table so they could talk in private. Keiji didn’t know what they told each other, but a few minutes later they returned and Tetsurou said that Kenma would join them as well. Keiji didn’t try to ask Kenma what had made him want to stay behind, or what changed his mind, but somehow knew it had something to do with the feeling he had since yesterday. Knowing how little it took for Kenma to break down in such a situation, when his nerves were obviously edged on by something, Keiji refrained from speaking to him about it.

 While Koutarou was gone with the two girls, Tetsurou and Suguru spoke with Futakuchi, while Kenma and Keiji sat on one of the little leather couches in the lobby. They told the receptionist that they wanted to go on a walk, asked him which routs to take and which to avoid, asked where the best spots to stop and have lunch were. Aside from that, their conversation seemed to take many and various routs. Futakuchi explained that if they wanted to get to the best spots, they had to walk straight up the road and avoid any paths which weren’t marked.

 “I advise you to continue walking past the camping ground.” He said, the friendly note in his voice never disappearing. “Just follow the road and you’ll eventually find a nice place.”

 “There isn’t anything we should watch out for, is there?” Suguru slowly asked, “No animals, or…”

 “Or road thieves.” Tetsurou finished for him with a slowly widening, mocking grin.

 “I’m asking a valid question, kitty. Why do you think you’re funny?” Suguru hissed, looking at Tetsurou, who couldn’t help but laugh this time.

 “You’re such a sissy! What do you expect? Yogi the bear to pop up from the trees and steal your lunch?”

 “If we ever meet a bear somewhere along the road I’ll be the one laughing when it eats you.”

 “Oh, fuck off. It’ll definitely eat you first. Typical, after all, how would you fight a bear when you can’t lift your girlfriend’s bag?”

 “I’ll…”

 “Actually.” Futakuchi interrupted and Keiji was surprised how good he managed to hold in his laughter. He found the scene comical, not enough to laugh, but the receptionist seemed like the type to enjoy a good laugh once in a while, more than him. “There aren’t many predators around. There are a bunch of birds, like hawks or owls, but nothing much more. If you’re lucky, you might see a rabbit somewhere along the way, or even more if a fox crosses your path.”

 “Are you sure there aren’t any dangerous animals around?” Keiji couldn’t help but ask from his spot on the white leather couch. Tetsurou looked at him with betrayal.

 “Not you too, Akaashi.” He groaned, as Suguru looked at him with a smug grin, happy with how Keiji had decided to appreciate his worries with his own similar question. “Did Kenma fill your head with stupid stories too?”

 “They weren’t stupid.” Kenma muttered from beside Keiji, not bothering to look up at Tetsurou. When he looked at him however, Keiji couldn’t help but notice how actually troubled he looked. He doubted that his worries were caused by a surprisingly hard level of his game.

 “Kozume told me nothing, Kuroo-san.” Keiji said, looking back at Tetsurou, “But we really should know what to be cautious of.”

 “My point exactly.” Nodded Suguru and, oh so childishly, stuck out his tongue towards Tetsurou.

 “Akaashi-san and Daishou-san have a point.” Added Futakuchi. “You might not think it’s very likely, but the forest _is_ a dangerous place.”

 “Why? Aside from the animals, of course, what more can happen?” Tetsurou asked, suddenly intrigued. Keiji also looked at the receptionist, waiting for his answer. Futakuchi hesitated a bit, but didn’t change the subject, despite what his face showed.

 “When the hotel was first opened,” he began, slowly, as if he was telling a scary story around a camp fire, “A lot of disappearances occurred. All of the missing people turned out guests of ours. I don’t know the full story, but what I do know is that most of them disappeared in the forest, or somehow vanished from their rooms. I personally think that those are just scary stories told amongst the older staff for fun during the night shifts. Every hotel has these little urban legends with which we scare the problematic children, if you know what I mean. I don’t want to scare you, but really, a fact is that two guests of ours really did disappear in the forest. That’s the only case I can tell you is a hundred percent real.”

 “What more do you know about that?” Keiji asked, feeling Kenma tense beside him. He spared him a quick glance, before turning his attention back to Futakuchi.

 “Ah, well, not much.” The receptionist answered, leaning against the counter. “I started working here a few months ago, so I’m not really sure what the details are. The main story is that a couple came to spend their week here. Everything happened during the winter season, about three or four years ago. They went out into the forest for a walk in the middle of their week and never came back. Moniwa-san, he’s our manager, says that back then he worked here on reception and that the whole case caused a big fuss. The police looked around the forest for days, but there wasn’t a trace of the missing couple. They vanished, leaving all their belongings here in the hotel.”

 “That sounds like a cheap horror story.” Tetsurou said with his ever present grin, while Suguru and Keiji remained silent. Futakuchi looked at Tetsurou with a not so smug or provocative grin of his own.

 “You might be right.” He said with a light shrug. “But compared to the other tales you’ll hear around the hotel staff, this is one is the only real. I assure you, in our register there really are an Oikawa Toru and an Iwaizumi Hajime and that if you look up their names in Google you’ll see their pictures in at least three newspaper articles posted there. Believe me, I tried and succeeded.”

 Even though Tetsurou still took the receptionist’s words as a children’s horror story, Keiji couldn’t help but revise every one of them while they waited for Koutarou and the girls to come back from their grocery shopping trip. Beside him, Kenma’s fidgeting lessened, but he still looked worried and Keiji really tried hard not to ask him what exactly had happened to get him so badly excited and troubled.

 

 He thought that the walk would be an awkward and unpleasant experience after what he had learned from the receptionist the same day. Using the little time he had before Koutarou and the girls’ return, Keiji really did look up the names Futakuchi had mentioned. Judging by the found information, during their week long trip in October, Oikawa Toru and Iwaizumi Hajime, both students around Keiji’s age, took off for a short walk in the forest, only to never return. The speculations were many, but neither could prove that they were still alive. Whatever had happened to them, they had never returned to tell.

 His mind was like a bee hive and his racing thoughts were the thousands of bees, which flew around their home, screaming at Keiji and not giving him peace. What exactly lay behind the hotel’s history of mass disappearances? Was it something in the forest? Did it have something to do with the fog? Did Oikawa Toru or Iwaizumi Hajime feel what he had felt upon their arrival? Did any of the other disappeared guests felt it? Keiji had always thought that he was a rational person, who didn’t believe in urban legends or scary stories, but he had always believed his instincts as well. If he felt uneasy, there was always something to make him feel so. The problem now, was that Keiji couldn’t figure out what that thing was.

 Once Koutarou and the girls returned, they packed their lunch and headed out, waving Futakuchi goodbye. They crossed the parking lot and walked towards the forest road, Mika and Yukie leading the way, Suguru trailing after them with the bag of food, while Koutarou and Tetsurou walked behind him. Keiji could overhear their conversation – Tetsurou was telling Koutarou about what the receptionist had told them, the thing he had seen as a children’s horror story. Keiji didn’t like the lightness with which he was talking about the disappearances, nor did he approve of how lightly Koutarou took the information, but what more did he expect? How else did they have to take the creepy fact? Freak out like him? Become paranoid? In this case, he wished he could take everything with cold carelessness, much like Tetsurou, but something was preventing him from doing so.

 They walked up the dirty road, just as Futakuchi had advised them. Keiji was surprised at how well he took the walk. The cold air was fresh, the smell of pine trees and wild flowers helped ease his mind. He could hear the chirping of birds, the flow of a river echoed through the trees somewhere deep behind them. Koutarou’s loud voice filled the little space reserved for any sort of silence and Keiji found him self enjoying that more than the sounds of the forest.

 They walked in pairs. A laughable fact, which Keiji noticed after the first few hundred meters were walked up the road. The girls still walked in front, leading the way, but now Suguru had caught up to them and was holding Mika’s hand in his. A few steps behind them walked Kenma and Tetsurou. Keiji couldn’t quite hear what they were talking about, but Tetsurou held a protective arm over Kenma’s shoulders. He felt a warm feeling settle over his heart as he watched them walk ahead. He couldn’t even think of feeling jealousy. Not when Koutarou stopped him every few minutes to give him flowers he picked by the road or when he wrapped his own strong hand around his waist as they walked. Lost in all the pleasant attention, Keiji couldn’t think of the fear or paranoia, which had obsessed him earlier in the form of hundreds of buzzing bees. He honestly hoped Kenma felt at ease as well.

 The walked past the camping grounds, again, just as Futakuchi had advised them. A few meters ahead they came across a clearing between the trees. Tetsurou and Koutarou quickly decided that that’s where they would be having lunch and the group wasted no time in settling on their new found meadow. Mika and Yukie had made sandwiches with what they had bought from the store. They had also bough two boxes of ready salads, a few cans of cheap beer for the boys and a bottle of juice for them selves. After they ate, they settled down for a game of pepper, not particularly intense, without much competition. Keiji completely forgot about his irrational fears and worries, while trying to keep the ball Koutarou had brought for the game up in the air.

 They spent about two hours playing on the clearing until the bad weather forced them to pack the leftovers of their lunch and head back towards the hotel. Keiji noticed how the clouds became thicker and darker above the trees. A low rumbling of thunder echoed somewhere in the distance. The forest again regained its coldness and Keiji again began to feel the steadily growing pressure of incomprehensible fear.

 

 As they approached the hotel, Mika and Yukie once again leading their way down the road, Keiji noticed a police car parked in front of the entrance to the parking lot. The girls also seemed to have noticed it, since they stopped and waited for them to catch up. They walked the rest of the way to the entrance together, already wondering what had gotten the attention of the police and made them come all the way there.

 When they entered the parking lot, they saw someone who might have been the policeman, to who the car belonged, talking with a shorter man in an ironed dark suit. From where he stood, Keiji could see the man in the suit gesticulate wildly, but couldn’t hear what he was telling the policeman. He looked concerned and uneasy. The policeman was obviously trying to calm him, but the man continued to talk and wave his hands around even after he turned to walk towards his car.

 “I assure you, there’s nothing to worry about.” Keiji heard the policeman saying, as they slowly came closer to each other, the other man walking beside him. “Your hotel won’t suffer any charges. After all, the guests might just be lost somewhere in the forest or might have decided to leave without telling you.”

 “You don’t understand, Sawamura-san.” The man insistently said, “Their bags were still in the room when we opened it with a spare key earlier. They haven’t passed the reception since yesterday evening.”

 “We’ll arrange a search, don’t worry Moniwa-san.”

 “Did something happen?” Tetsurou asked, walking towards the policeman.

 Seeing their approach, both Sawamura and Moniwa (who Keiji remembered being the hotel’s manager) looked up at the group. The policeman shook his head and sighed.

 “Two guests of the hotel, a married couple, have disappeared.” Sawamura informed them. “Are you guests of the hotel as well?” Tetsurou nodded. “Then, can I ask a few questions while you’re here? I’ll come by again with a colleague, but seeing as you’re actually the majority of visitors here for now, the work will be half done if I do.”

 “Ask away officer.” Koutarou said with a light shrug.  Keiji felt him self step closer to him, but didn’t really know why.

 “Yes, well, have you seen these people around? They were supposed to be here since last week, but were last seen by the staff yesterday.”

 Sawamura took out two identity cards from the pocket of his coat and showed them to the group. Everyone leaned a bit closer to them to see if they could recognize the people on the photos, except Keiji. He knew that he wouldn't recognize them even if he saw them. He hadn’t seen anyone else except the staff ever since they came. Kenma stayed behind as well, hands buried deep in the pockets of his jacket, eyes focused on the gray ground beneath his feet.

 “I haven’t seen anyone around.” Suguru muttered and Keiji felt happy to find out he wasn’t the only one to notice the odd absence of guests.

 “Neither have I.” Agreed Yukie, looking up at Moniwa, who still stood beside Sawamura, watching them. “Akaashi and I talked to a girl on the reception yesterday. She said you don’t really have much guests before the season and most of them don’t go out of their rooms much.”

 “Well, that’s true…” the manager answered, “But that’s not something unusual. Disappearances, however, are.”

 “Futakuchi-san on the reception said otherwise.” Mentioned Suguru, raising a brow in question, as he looked at the manager.

 Moniwa looked at a lost of words for a moment, before he managed to regain his composure.

 “I have a hunch what you’re implying and I assure you that the stories which you might hear from the staff, and especially Futakuchi, are completely false. They’re really not worthy of attention.”

 “But how about the disappearance of Oikawa Toru and Iwaizumi Hajime, Moniwa-san?” Keiji couldn’t help but ask, stepping into Moniwa's field of vision. “Futakuchi-san mentioned something about that as well. I took my time to actually look up the names and it turned out that there really was such a case. Futakuchi-san even said you worked here back then as well.”

 “I remember there was something like that running around the news and newspapers.” Sawamura agreed with a soft nod, looking at the manager.

 “I agree that there really was such a thing, but everything else is just made by the imaginations of sleep deprived colleagues, who had no better way to pass the time than scare each other out of their sleep.” Moniwa finally said, seemingly uncomfortable by the situation he and his hotel were being put it. “This is…the second disappearance we’ve had. I really don’t want it to ruin the hotel's reputation, and right before the season.”

 “Of course Moniwa-san, but there’s nothing to fear.” Sawamura once again assured him. “We’ll arrange a search, but if we never find them, then it won’t be your fault. I understand that something odd is happening, but we’ll get to the bottom of this.” The policeman turned towards the group of friends. “Thank you for the help. One more thing. Have you seen anything weird happen? Anything strange in the forest?”

 “What exactly are you looking for, officer?” Mika asked, wrapping her arms loosely around Suguru’s. “So we know what to help with or what to watch out for.”

 Sawamura sighed, running a hand through his short hair. It was obvious even he couldn’t name the thing he wanted to find. Keiji saw his eyes turn towards the forest on the other end of the parking lot in a meaningful glance. As if he was making a silent hint for those who managed to catch the quick movement of his dark eyes.

 “I’m not really sure my self.” He answered finally, “In such cases, anything we can find is useful.”

 “Sorry to disappoint, but so far our stay is pretty calm.” Tetsurou told him, hands coming to rest on his sides, “If something catches our eye however, we’ll surely tell you.”

 “Thank you.” Sawamura once again sighed, looking towards the tall trees across the parking lot. This time, his eyes lingered there for more than a few seconds, which only Keiji could notice. “I’ll come by tomorrow again, until then I’ll send a few people to look around the forest. Thanks again for your cooperation.”

 The policeman shook hands with Moniwa, Tetsurou, Koutarou and Suguru, bowed politely to Yukie and Mika, and finally offered a hand for Keiji to shake as well. He did so reluctantly, making the contact as quick as possible. Kenma on the other hand only offered a small nod of appreciation when the officer offered him a hand as well. Sawamura didn’t seem offended, on the contrary.

 “Thank you again.” He politely said, again turning towards the group and Moniwa. “I’ll make sure to come tomorrow. Be careful.”

 “One more thing, Sawamura-san.” Keiji suddenly said, just as the policeman was ready to turn towards his car. Sawamura stopped and looked at him questioningly. “Do you think that…the missing people might be somewhere in the forest?”

 Sawamura blinked, processing the question. He ran a hand through his hair again, sending the forest on the other side of the road another short glance.

 “That’s the biggest possibility for now.” he said and Keiji nodded in understanding. “But there’s nothing to fear. Enjoy your weekend.”

 Sawamura waved them goodbye before heading towards his car. His walk was confident, just as it was normal for a policeman. The confidence was evident in his voice as he spoke as well and Keiji couldn’t help but think what a good officer he might be. Aside from investigating mysterious disappearances, he could perfectly imagine Sawamura helping old ladies and carrying their groceries to their homes, saving children’s pets from trees, walking students through the dangerous streets to school. He was a man who could ensure the feeling of safety with just his presence, so much was evident from the way he spoke and acted. His suspicion towards the forest surrounding them was also something evident and it made Keiji wonder if Sawamura felt the paranoia and loneliness _he_ felt when they first came yesterday.

 While walking towards the hotel, Moniwa apologizing for their inconvenience and assuring them that their stay would definitely be pleasant to the end, Koutarou walked up to Keiji and pulled him aside.

 “What was up with you, Akaashi?” he asked, concern lacing his raspy voice. “Kuroo told me about what the receptionist told you while we were gone earlier. Did you really take it so seriously?”

 “I think it is something to be taken seriously, Bokuto-san.” Keiji smoothly said, trying to keep his voice in order. Normally, Koutarou was too dense to see if something was bothering him, but if Keiji made it evident enough, he easily caught on to his worries and wasted no time in asking what the problem was. But sometimes, Keiji didn’t want the attention.

 “I have the feeling you aren’t enjoying this vacation, Akaashi.” Koutarou continued, hand comfortingly resting on Keiji’s shoulder. “Are those disappearances really bothering you that much? We can go home anytime, just tell me.”

 “No. I really am fine, Bokuto-san, just…I guess these stories just got to me. I’ll be fine. And we’re going home tomorrow, I can last a day more.”

 Koutarou didn’t seem convinced.

 “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” He said, voice low and comforting. “If anything’s bothering you, tell me. You’ve been acting weird ever since we came. Did something happen?”

 Keiji quickly shook his head.

 “No. Every thing’s fine, thank you for worrying.”

 “Of course I’ll worry!” Koutarou exclaimed, “That’s my job right. To worry about you. Come on now, let’s go and play another round of pepper! It’ll cheer you up. Or do you wanna go to the pool or the hot springs? That’s some good shit, I’m telling you!”

 Keiji couldn’t help but smile at Koutarou’s eagerness, taking the hand which still lay over his shoulder into his. It’s warm, compared to his cold one.

 “You go and call Kuroo-san and Daishou-san. I’ll wait for you here.”

 Koutarou grinned and obeyed his order, running towards the glass doors of the hotel. Keiji quickly regretted his absence. He was now alone on the parking lot, the rustle of tall trees surrounding him. He took a deep breath of cold air and tried to relax his nerves. There was nothing to fear. Koutarou had said that if anything happened, if he felt too uncomfortable, he could drive him home and end his slow torture. Keiji could do so him self as well if it became too much. But tomorrow would come quickly and then they could all check out of the hotel and go home. Keiji could wait a few hours.

 While he stood in front of the hotel, hands shivering in the pockets of his jacket, something caught his attention. From the corner of his eye, Keiji saw color. Something small and yellow, contrasting strongly on the dark green and brown of the forest behind it. Like a splotch left by the brush of some wild painter.

 Struck by sudden curiosity, Keiji began to walk through the parking lot and towards the mysterious piece of color. The more he neared it, the more he began to think that it wasn’t just a yellow splotch of color on the dark green background of the forest, but something physically real.

 Keiji walked past Tetsurou’s car towards the dark green fence separating the forest and the parking lot. The paint of the fence almost blended with the dark greens and browns behind it, making it almost invisible. Keiji had completely missed out its presence when they came yesterday.

 The yellow splotch was actually a piece of cloth, stuck to a torn part on the bottom of the green fence. It moved, following the lead of the wind, but couldn’t fly away with it. Keiji knelt down to examine the torn area in the fence, surprised to find a large hole in the copper net. It was large enough to make the entrance of a semi-large dog, like a Labrador, easy. But as far as Keiji knew there were no dogs in the hotel and the  little guests except them didn’t seem to have pets with them selves either. The sides of the hole were torn, as if some wild beast had eaten through the fence. It definitely couldn’t have been the work of a dog.

 Keiji frowned, looking down at the ground. Deep, but not especially wide, long trails led into the forest and disappeared somewhere behind the fallen leaves and short wild bushes. As if someone had clawed at the ground, desperate to get away from whatever had dragged them away from the hotel. Keiji felt a shiver run down his spine.

 Tearing his eyes from the trails on the ground, Keiji again looked at the piece of cloth, stuck on the torn fence. He slowly reached up, almost as if he was afraid it would bite of his fingers if he touched it (an irrational fear he tried to dispose of just as quickly as it struck him). Unfortunately, no such thing happened. The piece of cloth remained stuck on the fence, tossed around by the cold wind and unable to do anymore harm than the thing which had made the hole in the fence. It was soft to the touch, like cotton. Keiji carefully took it down from the fence, as to not tear it further, and brought it closer to his face.

 It was torn asymmetrically, its edges reminded Keiji of those of the hole in the fence. At first sight it was clean, despite where he had found it. When he turned it around however, Keiji’s eyes widened.

 On the yellow, soft surface of the cloth, he saw dark red, almost brown, dried stains.

 A loud yell of his name made Keiji drop the cloth on the ground and immediately stand up. He looked back over his shoulders, eyes still wide in fear. His heart beat as if he had run a marathon. His face was no doubt as white as a sheet of expensive paper. He hadn’t even recognized Koutarou’s voice, as he called for him from the entrance of the hotel. He held a volleyball ball in one hand.

 “Akaashi!” Koutarou called once again, afraid Keiji hadn’t heard him the first time he did. “Come on! We’re going to play now! Are you coming!?”

 Keiji didn’t trust his own voice to answer, therefore he only waved at Koutarou, walking towards him and away from the fence as quickly as he could without running. He had the feeling that if he didn’t reach Koutarou, if he didn’t walk away from the torn hole in the fence as quickly as he could, the thing which had made it, which had dragged the unsuspecting victim to its domain behind the trees, leaving behind only a bloodied piece of clothing, would jump from the trees and pull him along as well.

 He could almost imagine his own fingers, desperately clawing at the muddy ground, as the beast dragged him away from the parking lot.

 Away from Koutarou.


	4. 4

 The window of his room had a perfect outlook to the fence and the hole, made by some mysterious wild beast. Keiji couldn’t take his eyes off of it, feeling a lot safer now, in the confines of the hotel room. He could hear the water in the bathroom running. The thought that Koutarou was in the room with him helped him relax.

 Their game of pepper had ended at around half past five, but Keiji couldn’t enjoy the game as much as he had before. He once again felt the paranoia ooze like thick black tar from the shadows of his mind. Every single fear he had pushed away in those shadows through the years had now turned into a monster ready to devour him if he let it take over. He couldn’t focus on the ball. His eyes were stuck on the forest behind him, observing, watching, waiting for whatever was behind the trees to make an appearance. In the end he had excused him self and almost ran inside the hotel. After walking up the stairs to the forth floor, taking two, three at a time, Keiji ran down the hall and into the room he shared with Koutarou. He could feel his stomach turn and twist, felt his skin crawl, as if he was stuck in a room with hundreds of cameras, their lenses directed at his pale and scared face, sending the pathetic image to a beast made out of shadows and fear somewhere in an imaginary control room. Overwhelmed by that disgusting feeling, Keiji had burst straight into the bathroom, not bothering to close the door, and had emptied the little contents of his stomach in the shining porcelain sink. When he looked up at the mirror above it, trembling fingers holding onto its ends as if his entire support (physical and mental) lay there, Keiji was almost scared of his own pale and sick face.

 He could still feel the sour taste in his mouth, even after he brushed his teeth and washed his mouth with mouthwash. Keiji absently ran his tongue over the clean surface of his front teeth, eyes focused on the fence outside. The little light the day had decided to provide them with became dimmer and dimmer and soon it would be completely dark. The time in which all the monsters came out to play in the human world was nearing at a rapid speed.

 Too caught up in his thoughts and silent observation, Keiji didn’t even hear the water in the bathroom being turned off, nor did he mind the footsteps slowly coming towards him. When two strong arms wrapped around his middle however, Keiji almost jumped out of his skin. He quickly turned away from the window, ready to fight back against whatever had gotten into the room with him, but to his surprise, he was met with Koutarou’s wide in surprise eyes. His tension eased when he was met with the familiar confused expression, but his nerves still remained as thin as hairs, ready to break at any given moment.

 Koutarou quickly unwrapped his arms from Keiji’s middle and took a step back, raising his hands in surrender.

 “Did I scare you?” he asked in concern and Keiji shook his head, despite wanting to nod.

 “I’m sorry.” He quietly said, looking back at the window. The hole remained in the net, terribly close to Tetsurou’s car. Despite being secure in the room, Keiji almost felt as if he was there, beside the car, unarmed and waiting for whatever lived behind the trees to snatch him up and devour him.

 Koutarou once again stepped closer to him. He set his still wet hands on Keiji’s sides and waited for any sign of protest. When he got none, Koutarou again wrapped his arms around Keiji’s waist. He leaned his chin on the other’s lean shoulder and Keiji felt small droplets of cooling water roll down his neck, wetting the collar of his shirt. He felt a pleasant shudder overcome his body, but his senses remained occupied with the still present fear. An irrational fear, Keiji quickly told him self, but it was a different matter if he even believed his own words at this point.

 “Are you sure you’re alright?” Koutarou softly asked, nuzzling against Keiji’s neck. “You almost ran in when we started playing. And you were stiff most of the time. Don’t hide things from me and tell me what’s bothering you.”

 Keiji leaned against Koutarou, despite feeling the back of his shirt slowly getting wet. He didn’t dare look away from the fence outside however, fearing that he might miss the appearance of whatever lived beyond it.

 “I just didn’t feel good, Bokuto-san.” He quickly lied, “There’s nothing to worry about.”

 “Hmm…Tell me if there is. Please.”

 Koutarou pressed a soft kiss against Keiji’s neck, over his most favorite spot. The spot he knew would make Keiji gasp or moan lowly. But this time, he didn’t get the reaction he secretly desired to get. Keiji only took a deep breath through his nose, eyes never leaving the window. This only made Koutarou try harder to pull him away from whatever thoughts had taken over him and pleasure him, just as he knew how.

 Licking a teasing trail up his pale neck, managing to hold back from biting or sucking, or leaving any other mark of claim, Koutarou stopped only when reaching Keiji’s ear.

 “You worry me, Akaashi…” he whispered into the other’s ear, making him shiver. “Are you hiding anything?”

 “I’m not…Bokuto-san.”

 With a sigh of pleasure, Keiji allowed him self to close his eyes and fully lean into Koutarou’s embrace. Before he could submerge in the pleasurable attention however, Keiji made sure to close the curtains over the window.

 

 Dinner was an awkward experience and Keiji found him self wanting to go back to his room. The faster he did, the faster he could go to bed and fall asleep. After he did that, he could rest assure that morning would come quickly, as well as their leave.

 The restaurant was again empty. The waitresses weren’t as cheerful as they were yesterday, or this morning. Keiji could hear them whisper to one another at the bar. Listening to the constant hushed conversations made the little hairs on his neck stand. It felt as if someone was whispering mere centimeters from his neck.

 This time, Keiji noticed the way everyone on the table seemed a bit less cheerful as well. The atmosphere hung like a heavy mantel over their table and no one really thought of anything to say to change it. No one tried either. They changed various topics, but always got to that of the disappearances. Keiji didn’t participate in the conversation, but Suguru seemed to enjoy it. Fascination and curiosity were evident in the way he spoke and soon someone (Keiji didn’t know exactly who, maybe it was more than just one person) asked him to stop so they could change the topic.

 Another thing Keiji noticed while absently chewing his food was Kenma’s nervousness. He didn’t eat, he didn’t drink the juice in his glass (he was the only one to drink only juice by that point, even Keiji had decided on something alcoholic to ease his nerves). He simply sat on the chair beside Tetsurou’s, ready to sink in it and disappear. Keiji could catch the faint shiver of his thin fingers over the table and the more he observed him, the more he understood that something wasn’t right. And even thought Kenma didn’t look good since the beginning of dinner, he became visibly more restless after Suguru had began talking about the disappearance from this morning.

 Keiji wondered if he knew. If, secretly, Suguru was a lot more sensible to the things happening around them. Things which he had a hard time understanding. If Suguru really felt the pressure and coldness, which came from the deepest parts of the forest and took over the hotel, then Keiji would like to speak to him after their leave tomorrow.  He would ask him if he had seen the hole in the fence. If he had seen the yellow piece of bloodied cloth. If he had noticed the trails on the ground, leading into the darkness of the forest. And if he had, what had he felt? What had he thought? Had he told Mika? Keiji knew that, even though Suguru couldn’t drive, Mika could. And if he had told her what bothered him, if he was honest with her, then she would want to drive him home. But since Mika hadn’t asked if she could take either Tetsurou’s or Koutarou’s cars, that could mean that Suguru hadn’t told her. And maybe Keiji understood why.

 Because Suguru was prideful and if Mika spoke to any of them about borrowing a car to go home, he would quickly be accused of being a coward, something he had no intentions of being.

 Again overwhelmed by buzzing thoughts and rapidly growing anxiety, Keiji excused him self from the table. Kenma looked at him then, silent questions hiding behind his large eyes, but he said nothing.

 The air outside was cold and Keiji allowed him self a moment to just breath. Despite knowing that there certainly was something evil behind the fence surrounding the complex, deep in the forest, the air still tasted sweet and definitely held the mountain freshness good and healthy for every smoker. Keiji however didn’t smoke, but the air still managed to sooth him.

 The restrooms were in a different building beside that of the restaurant. It wasn’t big, but it definitely held the luxury of everything else in the hotel. The floors and walls were covered with light caramel tiles. The sinks were of white porcelain, much like that in Keiji’s room. Everything was clean and almost sparkled. If Keiji tried, he could see his reflection on the tiles beneath his feet.

 Keiji made sure to lock the door behind him before walking down the small corridor, separating the toilet stalls and the sinks. He stopped in front of a sink in the end of the corridor and turned on the cold water. Keiji was actually surprised to find his fingers shaking over the knob, as he turned it. A quick look in the mirror above the sink proved that his face wasn’t as pale as he had feared. He didn’t look as bad as he did earlier, when he had emptied most of his stomach content in the sink of his room.

 With a deep sigh, Keiji dipped his shaking hand under the cold stream of water and leaned down to wash his face. The cold water felt nice against his sweaty skin and Keiji took a few deep breaths before turning off the sink and again looking at the mirror. He looked alright. Not sick, not pale. His hands weren’t shaking anymore. The thought of walking out in the dark again made him shudder, but otherwise, nothing in his expression gave out his internal worries.

 Keiji ran his still wet hands over his hair then clasped his cool palms over his cheeks. With a sigh he walked away from the sink, already imagining the heavy dread he would feel upon exiting the building and walking back out into the darkness. The actual feeling however wasn’t as strong as he had imagined it and Keiji was ready to sigh in relief again.

 Closing the door behind him, Keiji began to walk towards the restaurant again. He walked close to the wall, his shoulder almost touching its raspy surface. Despite feeling more relaxed and confident now, Keiji still had the urge to stay as far as he could from the fence. It was some animalistic instinct inside him, locked up behind a wall of rationality, which still managed to act behind the curtains and help him survive. The same instinct which had helped humanity survive in the old times, when dangerous animals, a lot more ferocious than any lion, had roamed the earth.

 A sudden thought came to Keiji’s mind, almost making him laugh. What if the beast in the forest, which had the interesting habit to kidnap married couples, had somehow survived since those old times, when the only clothes consisted of animal skins and the modern human civilization was nothing more than a pack of wild beings, nothing more or less than the animals they shared their hunting grounds with. What if that being was similar to the crocodiles or turtles? What if it had survived through drastic weather changes, through earthquakes and floods, feeding on the fear and helplessness of those around it? From laughable, the simple thought turned into an idea worthy to be turned into a horror novel or movie, which would no doubt have amazing success one day.

 Just as Keiji was about to turn the corner of the building and try to go back to their table in the restaurant, he heard hushed whispering, loud enough to be heard over the rustling of the trees and the whistling wind. He quickly stopped and once again hid in the shadows which the building provided. As quietly as he could, Keiji took a short step and peeked out from around the corner, hoping that whoever held the hushed conversation was too occupied in it to notice his presence. To his surprise, under the many yellow lights the complex provided, he saw Tetsurou and Kenma.

 “What if it happens again, Kuro?” Keiji heard Kenma saying. He could hear the desperateness and worry in his normally passive voice. Kenma’s fingers trembled as he held tightly onto Tetsurou’s shirt, crumbling the fabric.

 “This was all just a coincidence.” Tetsurou spoke softly, looking down at Kenma. Keiji couldn’t see his eyes clearly, but he could hear the concern in his voice. “I told you today too, didn’t I? What you saw was nothing more but a play of the shadows. The red light…”

 “Its _eyes_.”

 “Yes, alright, its _eyes_. That must have some reflection from the digital clock on the nightstand.”

 “But it wasn’t! Why don’t you believe me?”

 “I believe you! But…”

 “No, you don’t.” insisted Kenma, looking at the ground between them. “If you did, you would’ve told that policeman. You would have listened to what Futakuchi-san told us. If you believed me, we would be home now!”

 “ _Kenma_. I can’t just pack everything and go. We’re not the only ones one this vacation. I can’t ruin their fun because of some shadow, which might not even be real.”

 “But _I’m_ not having any fun. There’s something _evil_ out there Kuro! We have to go back home _now_!”

 “Stop acting so spoiled!” Tetsurou’s voice was harsh and oddly loud. It made Keiji flinch from his spot in the shadows. Kenma’s fingers relaxed over Tetsurou’s shirt before slowly falling to his sides.

 With a deep sigh, Tetsurou continued, hands rubbing Kenma’s arms softly, comfortingly.

 “Look. Tomorrow we’ll have breakfast, check out and go home. We’ll never come here again, I promise.”

 “You don’t understand…” Kenma’s voice was quiet. Keiji could barely hear him as he spoke. “It’s going to come again _tonight_. It’ll get one of _us_ this time. Please believe me! Why don’t you…?”

 Keiji heard Tetsurou sigh deeply again.

 “I just can’t, Kenma. I really can’t…”

 The two fell silent and Keiji waited. He felt a little bad, listening in on their conversation, but he hadn’t meant to. Kenma’s words actually scared him. They rang in his mind like the sound of giant bells, a sound which foreshadowed danger.

 When the silence continued more than Keiji expected, he once again looked around the corner. He saw as Kenma shrugged Tetsurou’s hands off of himself, much to the taller male’s disbelief. Kenma didn’t look up at him and Keiji couldn’t see his expression, but perhaps it was one of disappointment and betrayal. Keiji wondered if Koutarou would have reacted the same way as Tetsurou if he told him what had been bothering him since yesterday. The knowledge that he probably would made Keiji’s heart sink, but now he was glad he hadn’t.

 When he saw Kenma walking towards his hiding spot around the corner, Keiji froze. He would be caught in a very uncomfortable situation, but, knowing Kenma, he wouldn’t say anything even if he saw him (which he would definitely do). Tetsurou reached out a hand to stop him, but otherwise left him go. There was no use talking when there was so much tension between them now. Even if he did apologize, Kenma’s confidence that he would stand behind him whatever happened had been torn down and Tetsurou understood that. That’s why he decided to leave Kenma to his own thoughts, hoping he would understand how stupid his reactions were and how childish he was acting. But Keiji knew otherwise. He knew that Kenma was by no means childish, but there was no way for Tetsurou to understand.

 Keiji said nothing when Kenma turned the corner and stopped in front of him. He wasn’t startled by his presence in the shadows, which was good. He didn’t look up at him and Keiji failed to read the emotion coursing through him at the moment. After a moment of silence, Kenma continued towards the entrance of the restroom, from which Keiji had come out of a few minutes ago.

 The wind was once again the only sound, which Keiji was able to hear. No silent footsteps or voices, no roars or shrieks. The silence however scared him more than the loudest of noises.

 

 That night his sleep was plagued with nightmares. Keiji couldn’t remember anything exact, all he knows was that it was terrible. He dreams of darkness and shadows with red eyes. He tries to run, but reaches nothing. He feels his knees bend under the pressure of his weight, which is absurd, but it happens. Keiji doesn’t know what or why, but something’s chasing him. Too scared to look behind himself, Keiji continues to run through the darkness.

 He hears voices. Thousands of voices, but doesn’t see the ones they belong to. They’re strained and hoarse from screaming. Screaming for help and begging for salvation, which refuses to come to their tortured souls. Keiji hears names, amongst the senseless screams. Or so he thinks he does. Parts of names, common endings and beginnings. Chopped up syllables which he can barely recognize over the sound of his own panting breaths and furious heartbeat.

… _sawa_ … _Yuu_ … _ku_ … _mi_ … _shi_ … _mura_ … _zawa_ … _You_ … _Ichi_ … _sa_ … _wa_ … _ka_ … _ko_ … _fu_ … _moto_ … _mai_ … _Chie_ … _ru_ …

 Strained and tortured voices try to call out to scared and suffering souls. They ring in Keiji’s ears and he tries to run away from them, but can’t. They come from everywhere, strong and insistent. They’re screaming at him, faulting him for their death and suffering. But there’s nothing Keiji can do. They should understand it. They should leave him alone and disappear. He has it bad enough with the shadow being with red eyes and teeth sharper than a shark’s chasing after him, and Keiji feels sweat cover his skin and run down his neck, because he knows (he can’t see or hear it, but he _knows_ ) that it’s coming closer, ready to catch him and pull him away behind the trees…

 Keiji wakes up covered in sweat, chest heaving. His eyes are probably as wide as an owl’s, as he stares at the dark ceiling above him. He tries to breath, but the air doesn’t reach his lungs. Beside him, Koutarou sleeps as deeply as he ever has, blissfully unaware of Keiji’s silent suffering. Keiji prefers it that way. If he can suffer for Koutarou, than so be it.

 He tries to breathe again and this time, the hot, so desired oxygen manages to flow down his dry throat, continue down his windpipe and reach his lings, between which his heart is racing and pumping blood at almost dangerous levels. Keiji covers his face with his hands, feels the salty sweat on both his palms and cheeks and slowly licks his dry lips. He’s shaking, shivering, his body and limbs refuse to obey him.

 After regaining his breath and trusting his body enough, Keiji slowly sits up. He tugs the heavy covers away from his body and realizes that, despite how warm the air around him felt when he woke up, the room was oddly cold. The hotel was supposed to have its own heater installation, which worked through most of the day and night. It provided warmth during the winter season and a pleasant coolness during the summer. Despite how cold it was now, during the autumn months, Keiji couldn’t feel the warmth promised by the heaters.

 Keiji tried breathing in deeply before standing up. He didn’t bother turning on the lamp on the bedside table, afraid of waking up Koutarou. If he woke up, he would ask questions. Questions which Keiji wouldn’t be able to answer, nor did he want to at the moment. His eyes had gotten used to the darkness in the room and he managed to safely reach the bathroom, without bumping into any furniture or Koutarou’s scattered belongings along the way there.

 He washed his face with cold water and took two pills of valerian. The medicine he had borrowed from the reception before going to bed. He knew he would need them, even if he knew they were ineffective. Valerian was a medicine he knew worked more on the placebo effect, rather than anything else. Believing that it would help however, combined with the fact that he had taken a pill, helped trick his mind into slowly easing.

 This time however, that would be a harder task for the white round pills.

 Keiji walked out of the bathroom, turning off the bothering white light and closing the door. The room was silent, the only thing registering in Keiji’s ears being Koutarou’s heavy breaths as he slept. He crossed the room with steady, slow steps, walking towards the window. The curtains were still hanging over the glass, shielding Keiji’s eyes from any horrifying image he might see. But unlike earlier, when he was lost in Koutarou’s attention, Keiji is curious. He wants to see if now there’s something outside. If it’s watching him. If it has round, red eyes.

 Driven by burning curiosity, but also a thrilling chill of terror, Keiji grasps the heavy material of the curtain. His fingers tremble and he hesitates. He feels a shiver run down his spine, and it isn’t thrilling at all. Keiji’s mind races and he curses him self for coming so far at all. He glances sideways at Koutarou’s sleeping form on the bed, watches as he breathes steadily, and for a short moment considers going back to bed and forgetting this ever happened. He wants to go back to sleep, no matter how nightmare induced it is, so the time till morning can pass as quickly as it can. The nightmares couldn’t be worse than the thing waiting outside of the window, waiting for Keiji to open the curtains.

 But Keiji wanted to see. Wanted to see the thing, which had made the hole in the fence. The thing which had kidnapped the couple. The thing behind all the sinister stories of kidnappings and horror. The thing behind the disappearance of Oikawa Toru and Iwaizumi Hajime. Keiji wanted to be sure there was something, to see it with his own eyes. So he could make it clear for him self that he wasn’t hallucinating, wasn’t imagining all the feelings he had.

 Keiji’s fingers tightened over the curtain. He took a deep breath and with a quick movement pulled it aside. Soft moonlight flooded the dark room and Keiji looked up at the dark blue sky. He could see the crescent moon and twinkling stars high above the edges of the trees. Keiji’s eyes slowly drifted lower, from the moon and stars towards the dark trees below. He faintly made out the outlines of the fence.

 Keiji’s gaze slowly fell lower. The concrete of the parking lot was almost illuminated by the glow of the moon. Keiji’s chest tightened as his eyes turned towards the place where the hole in the fence had to be. His fingers once again began to shiver. Dread settled down over him, coiled in his stomach like a heavy boulder.

 The same afternoon when Keiji had first discovered the hole in the fence, he was surprised by its closeness to Tetsurou’s car. The black Toyota had even blocked his view of the fence when he had observed it behind the window earlier. But now, the same black Toyota which Tetsurou adored wasn’t where it had been parked since yesterday. Nothing blocked Keiji’s view of the fence anymore. The only vehicle on the parking lot now was Koutarou’s metallic Suzuki.

 Later on, when Keiji revised the night events, he reached a quick and not very shocking conclusion. The absence of the Toyota was definitely not the first thing he noticed. If anything, that came later. No, the first thing Keiji noticed were the two red, glowing orbs, which as if hung in the middle of the large, black shadow beside the hole in the fence.

 Keiji almost fell to his knees. Almost tripped back onto the carpet. His eyes widened and the little breath he held escaped through his parted lips.

 He was staring right into its _eyes_.

 The creature seemed to be kneeling beside the hole in the fence. Its body was made entirely of black shadows, Keiji couldn’t make out any of its features. Its face, or what supposed to be it, was turned towards the window. It was looking at him, observing him. Its eyes as if burned holes through Keiji’s own wide ones.

 The shadow figure had claws, long and sharp. Its hands were as thin as sticks, outstretched in front of its body. Keiji could see it scratch against the concrete of the parking lot, but didn’t know why. The movement seemed almost bored and absent, as if it was a simple habit the creature was following as it observed him. It dragged the sharp edges of its claws against the ground and Keiji could almost see sparks fly as it did. He didn’t know what noise the movement made, but he was sure it was something similar to dragging ones nails over a black board.

 Keiji took a step back. His foot caught in the carpet behind him and he found him self falling backwards, taking the curtain with himself. A loud shriek left his mouth and he could barely recognize his own voice, as his back collided with the hard floor.

 The soft moonlight continued to fill the room with its charming glow.

 Despite being a heavy sleeper most of the time, Koutarou woke up almost immediately. A bit disorientated at first, he turned on the lamp on the bedside table, yellow glow mixing with the white moonlight, and as quickly as he could, kicked away the covers. Koutarou swayed a bit as he stood up, but that didn’t stop him from coming to Keiji’s aid. A few long strides were all it took and Koutarou fell to his knees beside Keiji’s shivering form, half covered by the heavy curtains.

 “Akaashi?!” he called in concern, hands wrapping around Keiji’s shuddering shoulders. Keiji didn’t look at him, eyes wide and unseeing as he stared at the window and the large, crescent moon behind it. “Speak to me Akaashi! What happened, are you hurt? Say something, Keiji!”

 Taken out of his daze by Koutarou’s voice, Keiji slowly pointed a finger at the window. His other hand quickly shot out to grasp the front of Koutarou’s shirt, holding onto it tightly, as if it was a lifeline.

 “Outside…” he breathed, voice breaking pathetically. “It’s outside…At the fence…It’s at the fence!”

 “What’s at the fence?” Koutarou asked in confusion, looking at the window, then back at Keiji. “What’s outside? Relax and breathe, Keiji, _breathe_ , come on. Take deep breaths with me alright?”

 Koutarou made Keiji turn towards him, taking his shivering, cold hands into his and giving them a tight squeeze, to prove to Keiji that he wasn’t in some nightmare, but in the hotel room with him. In his arms, where he was most safe.

 Keiji looked up at Koutarou and tried desperately to copy him as he took deep, even breaths. His fingers slowly relaxed over the fabric of his shirt. Koutarou took a few more breaths and stopped once Keiji’s breathing was again calm and even. He continued to rub his shuddering back for a few moments before speaking again, a concerned frown spreading over his face.

 “Now tell me what you saw? What happened?” he softly questioned, looking at Keiji’s white face. “What got you so scared?”

 Keiji gulped heavily and slowly looked up at Koutarou. The fear shone clear in his dark eyes.

 “It’s outside…The thing that kidnaps people…It’s there!”

 

 The loud knocking made Kenma sit up in the bed, eyes wide, survival instinct kicking in and screaming at him to run. The knocking was loud and insistent and Kenma’s first thought was that the being from last night really had come again and that this time it was nowhere near as patient as it was. This time it had no time to seek invitation.

 But the noise wasn’t coming from the window as it had the night before. This time, the sores was the door. Loud and clear. It didn’t rang around the dark room, wasn’t slow and maddening. When Tetsurou jumped out of the bed startled, Kenma understood with relief that he wasn’t dreaming.

 The clock on the night stand showed half past twelve. Tetsurou swore out loud, turning on the lamp on the nightstand. The soft yellow light was enough to banish the shadows in the room and send them to their corners. Tetsurou stood up from the bed, Kenma’s wide eyes following his every movement, and stormed towards the door.

 “Who the hell could it be and what the fuck does he want?!” Tetsurou yelled, his voice loud enough to make Kenma flinch.

 Kenma slowly climbed out of the comfort of the bed, hearing Tetsurou open the door to the room. Before he could make it to the door, he heard another angry voice, yelling at Tetsurou.

 “What kind of a nasty trick is that?!” the voice roared, and Kenma managed to recognize Suguru’s typical hiss.

 “What are you talking about?! Go back to bed!” Tetsurou yelled back. “I don’t know if _you_ sleep, but _I_ definitely do!”

 “Well, maybe you’re a sleepwalker then! I can’t believe you had enough time to vandalize a hotel window! Was this a bet with Bokuto?!”

 Kenma walked into the hall just in time to see Tetsurou’s confused expression. His brows furrowed over his forehead and his nose slightly scrunched up, either of disgust or offence of the accusation Suguru was making.

 “What the hell are you even running your mouth for?” he asked, lowering his voice.

 Kenma saw Suguru grit his teeth in anger, hands clenching into tight fists.

 “If you really don’t know, then come see for your self.” He hissed and stormed up the hall towards the room he and Mika shared. Tetsurou followed, confusion still clear over his face. Kenma trailed after him as well, not very appealed by the idea of staying alone in the dark room.

 Suguru and Mika’s room was two doors up the dark hall from Kenma and Tetsurou’s. It wasn’t much different from theirs as well. The only difference Kenma managed to spot was the positioning of the furniture. And, of course, he couldn’t miss the horrid sight of the window upon entering the room. He understood what had gotten Suguru so angry and it wasn’t the terrible writing on the other side of the glass. He was angry, because he had actually been scared. The initial fright had turned into anger at the thought that his not very good friends Tetsurou and Koutarou were behind the disgustingly nasty joke. Kenma understood him. His nerves would have broken down as well if he opened the curtains in his room and found what Suguru had found.

 On the outside of the window, with large, crocked letters, was written a simple message. A blood-chilling advise.

**Don’t Let Them In!**

  The message was written with something dark, almost like tar or mud, but not as thick. At the thought that it could’ve been written in blood, Kenma’s knees almost gave up under him and he had to grab onto Tetsurou’s night shirt for support. Tetsurou him self stared at the window with wide in confusion eyes, jaw tightly clenched.

 Suguru looked at him expectantly, nose scrunching up in anger.

 “Don’t look so surprised, kitten. It's no use acting now.” he lowly said. Tetsurou only shook his head in disbelief.

 “I can’t believe how dumb you are, you…Do you really think I would stand up this late at night, climb the wall like Spiderman and write spooky stuff on your window? The window of a hotel more ever? Or, wait, did you think I borrowed a ladder from the reception? Are you nuts?! How old do you think we are here, Daishou?!”

 Finally aware of how childish his accusations were, Suguru blinked stupidly at Tetsurou. He frowned again, crossing his arms.

 “Then what better answer do you have for _this_?” he motioned to the ruined window and the message written on it.

 “I really don’t know!” Tetsurou said defensively. “Did you seriously think _I_ did it? Or Bo? Are you seriously crazy?!”

 “Who did it then?!”

 “There’s no way for someone to reach the window without a ladder…” Kenma quietly muttered, fingers tightening over the fabric of Tetsurou’s shirt. “We’re on the forth floor, there’s nothing beneath the window, no balcony. There isn’t a tree with branches long or thick enough to hold a person of average weight while he writes something on the window…”

 “So who ever wrote it either flew or levitated?” Suguru sarcastically asked, hands still crossed over his chest. He glared at Kenma with expectation, waiting to hear his next observation. Kenma almost shrunk under his gaze.

 “Well…” he began, but Tetsurou quickly cut in, saving him from the inconvenience of explaining something, which couldn’t be explained.

 “And what answer do you have, Daishou?” he asked, crossing his arms and trying desperately to look as intimidating as he could. If it was someone else in front of him and not Suguru, he would definitely waver under his sharp glare. Suguru however was used to it and stood his ground. “Try explaining _this_ on your own, if you’re so mighty. Or do you still believe I got up from my sleep just for _you_? Think twice and don’t be the idiot you are, at least for once.”

 Suguru opened his mouth to say something back, but judging by his expression, nothing smart came to his mind.

 “Fine…” he quietly said, “But it wasn’t there when we went to bed, so it showed up later.”

 “When did you saw it if you were asleep?” Tetsurou asked, his glare loosing its deadly sharpness. Their relationship with Suguru was one of many compromises, a lot of fighting and yelling, dirty and personal insults. But in the end, they always managed to keep their cool around each other, taking it as a personal inner battle to try and act as if they didn’t hate themselves, when in fact, they wanted to grab each other’s necks and just _squeeze_ until one of them gave up.

 “Something woke Mika-chan up.” Suguru answered with a short shrug, again looking at the window and the message written over it. “She said it was some noise. She woke me up and I stood up to check…Finding _this_ when I opened the curtains.”

 Kenma looked up at Tetsurou when he spoke again. His expression now was one of unease.

 “Where’s Mika-chan now?”

 “Down at the reception to ask about it.” Suguru answered. “At first I thought it was some sick joke of yours and went to get you while she went down to the lobby to get someone to clean the window.”

 “Why did you let her go alone?” Kenma asked in disbelief. Suguru simply looked at him with a raised brow.

 “Why? It’s just a trip to the lobby. She’s twenty years old, do you want me to hold her hand and walk her downstairs? Not like she’ll even let me, but…”

 “That’s not my point!” Tetsurou looked at him in question as well, when Kenma raised his voice, cutting Suguru off mid-sentence. “What if something…something happens to her?”

 “Like what? The worst that could happen is for her to fall down the stairs, God forbid.”

 “Not like that…” Kenma looked up at Tetsurou, who continued to stare at him as if he was mad. “Kuro, lets go downstairs _now_. Something’s going to happen, believe me!”

 “Okay, okay.” Tetsurou reassuringly said. “We’ll go down and see what’s going on, alright? If something happened, we would have at least heard, right? So don’t worry so much.”

 Kenma couldn’t. He couldn’t just stop worrying. Because even if he didn’t know Mika at all, if she disappeared, that meant that the probability of someone else disappearing by the end of the night was bigger than it seemed. And if that happened, Kenma knew the being which watched him from the window the night before would be involved.

 The three walked down the hall, Kenma trying to stay behind Tetsurou, but finding his slow walking nerve wrecking. They had talked long and hard about what Kenma felt, about his fears and worries, but despite talking twice and completely depleting the topic, Tetsurou still couldn’t believe him. Kenma understood that it was hard to believe in such a story, but even the littlest bit of comfort and empathy from Tetsurou’s side would be enough. He, however, had decided to be stubborn and shut his ears off to Kenma’s words. Tetsurou wouldn’t believe him if he didn’t see for him self. But he had seen the window, seen the creepy message, and despite that Kenma could see plainly clear the realization slowly downing on him, a few words written over Suguru’s window weren’t enough to completely prove to him that something wrong was going on. Kenma only hoped that his rationality wouldn’t put him in danger.

 They walked down the carpet covered stairs, coming closer and closer to the lobby. The pressure however grew the closer they got. Kenma felt the lights getting dimmer and dimmer, the white turning gray the further down they walked. Soon the lights began to buzz and shiver and when they reached the second floor, Kenma noticed that the lights on the first one weren’t even working. That had to mean that the reception was closed and that no one was behind the counter, which was impossible. The reception worked 24/7. The day shift was taken by Futakuchi, the night one by Nametsu Mai. The lights had to be on constantly, if not on the upper floors, then in the lobby.

 Tetsurou seemed to notice the unusual lack of light. He stopped at the top of the staircase leading to the lobby and when Kenma looked up, he saw him frowning. He was thinking. Thinking hard about something and Kenma couldn’t understand what, even though he had learned to read Tetsurou like an opened book through all their years together.

 Tetsurou doesn’t stop for long, probably fearing the questions Suguru might ask if he did. He takes a hold of Kenma’s hand (which is surprising for both) and slowly heads down the stairs towards the dark first floor.

 Only three steps are left when Tetsurou stops again and Kenma feels him squeeze his hand tightly. Behind him, Suguru also stops and when Kenma looks up at him, he sees him blink, eyes wider than they normally were. Kenma follows the two’s gazes, already fearing what he was about to see. And he’s right to.

 His heart jumps all the way to his throat, as his eyes land on the skinny figure beside the reception’s counter. Long dark hair covers the figures shoulders, the night gown it’s wearing almost shines, illuminated by the soft moonlight, which enters through the glass doors of the hotel and fills the lobby. Kenma’s breathe stutters, as the figure slowly turns towards them. Her white skin almost glows on the moonlight, just like her knee-long dress, but her face is completely white.

 “There you…” the figure says, voice rough, as if her throat was filled with dirt and rocks.

 Before Kenma could even think of screaming, Tetsurou and Suguru are already howling in terror, their voices echoing from the lobby, all the way to the sixth, last floor of the hotel. Perhaps their terror filled voices filled even the forest, disturbing the cold, still night.

 The figure turned fully towards them and (Kenma couldn’t see, too busy cowering behind Tetsurou) frowned.

 “Why are you yelling?!” it asked, and suddenly, Kenma recognized Mika’s voice. “What happened?!”

 If possible, Suguru’s expression turns from scared to mortified, as he finally recognizes his girlfriend. Tetsurou has some more troubles with the realizations. Slowly coming down from their fearful ride, he stares at Mika’s face, eyes narrowing and widening, then narrowing again.

 “What _the fuck_ do you have on your face?” he asked in confusion, receiving an offended grimace from Mika and a hateful glare from Suguru.

 “What do you mean?” Mika asks, eyes narrowing. “My facial mask? It’s for hydrating the skin! Do you know how expensive it is?! Do I look that ugly with it?! And why did you yell too, Suguru?!”

 “I did _not_!” Suguru objects, “I recognized you right away! It was _his_ fault for startling me!”

 “ _My_ fault?” Tetsurou gasps, turning towards Suguru, who somehow manages to keep the look of pure innocence on his face, despite having obviously confused his girlfriend for Sadako from The Ring.

 “Well yeah!” the snake continues. “Not to mention that you’re wearing my favorite, Mika-chan. The one that smells like fruits and flowers.”

 Mika frowns deeper, crossing her arms in front of her humble chest. Somehow, her boyfriend’s act isn’t as convincing as it usually is.

 “No.” she says with a shake of her head. “I’m not using that one tonight, Suguru. This one’s “Paula’s”. And even though it does smell nice, it definitely doesn’t smell like fruits and flowers.”

 “Then that must be the way you smell, Mika-chan, because I simply love it.”

 Tetsurou makes a disgusted face as he stares at Suguru, who now manages to look as smug as he normally does. Mika still isn’t very convinced, but lets things slide past her mind.

 “I’ll let that pass. For now.”

 “Where’s the receptionist?” Kenma quietly asks, stepping out from behind Tetsurou. Mika only shakes her head.

 “I have no idea, I came down, and there wasn’t a soul around.”

 “Do believe that I somehow flew up to your window and wrote those things as a joke? Like Daishou here says?” Tetsurou asks, walking down the last three steps, followed by a still glaring Suguru.

 Mika shook her head with a soft sigh.

 “Of course not.” She softly said. “Right now I just want someone to clean it. But there’s no one here, I even checked into the storage behind the desk.”

 “Maybe they’re closed for the night?” Suguru thought aloud. “It’s past midnight.”

 “No way.” Tetsurou countered, shaking his head. “The receptionist said they worked over night.”

 “What woke you up?” Kenma asked again, gaining Mika’s attention. She blinked, thinking over his question. Somehow Kenma feels him self fearing the answer. It’s so obvious, it’s right in front of him. He understands that, he knows the answer perfectly. But he’s so scared to admit it. All his suspicions and fears will be proved true. It only takes Mika one sentence to shatter all of the sanity Kenma had managed to preserve in him self so far.

 When Mika speaks, her voice is soft and confused.

 “I heard something.” She slowly said. “It was strange, as if the whole room was ringing. But when I woke up I thought it was coming from the window. It was a really insistent noise, it had a certain rhythm too…Like a very slow but loud tapping noise. I remember shuddering when I heard it, it was really maddening…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally a longer and supposedly scarier chapter! So, first things first. I've taken Valerian and know it doesn't work as it has to. Second, I do not understand anything of cars, but I looked up some stuff and saw that Toyota and Suzuki are among the most famous brands in Japan, there for I conclude that they're pretty popular among the young generation...I do not drive, I know nothing of cars, seriously, if you don't like those two brands and think they're shit, then sorry! Third, Akaashi doesn't know, but there really is a book which revolves around a monster, which survived since ancient times and kills whole cities of people. The books is called "The ancient enemy" or it may be found under the name "Phantoms" by Dean Koontz. Last but not least, "Paula's" something something, is a hydrating facial mask, good for the winter months. I do not use such things so I just googled it, really. That last funny scene was one of the first that came to my mind before writing this, bless it! xD  
> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Will you wait for more, or is this all you can take? ;)


	5. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This came out late, but I had major authors block and almost no motivation, and I was sick so...But I guess you wont be very happy with this chapter, at least if I have done a good job with it.   
>  PS. Now's a good time to listen to "I saw you die" by Apollo Drive...

Koutarou knocks on the door of Yukie’s room, first gently, then a bit harder. But no matter how much he knocks, there is no response from inside. Tension steadily grows inside of him and Koutarou frowns. His fingers wrap around the handle of the door and push down onto it experimentally. He doesn’t expect the door to open, but the handle slowly slides down and a single push is the only thing needed to open the door then. Koutarou blinks in suspicion.

 “Yukie?” he calls before opening the door wide enough to step into the room.

 The lights are turned off, but the TV is working. The door to the bathroom is opened and when Koutarou walks further into the room, he sees the bed unmade. Someone definitely lay there before, but was now gone. The window of the room is opened as well, the wind from inside blows the curtains and makes the room cold. Koutarou doesn’t see any signs of a fight. Everything seems in order, if it only wasn’t the absence of Yukie.

 Keiji walks up to him and Koutarou turns to look at him, finally managing to tear his eyes from the widely opened window. Despite how terrified Keiji had looked a few minutes ago, as the two sat on the floor in front of the window in their room, his face was once again set into an expression of apathy, like the one he normally wore when he wanted to hide his real thoughts and emotions from those around him. What made Koutarou frustrated was the fact he tried to hide from him as well. He felt as if he had seen a side of the real Akaashi Keiji when he had sat beside him, helping him breathe and calming him through the terror coursing through his shaking body. The person who hid from him most of the time due to some reason, foreign and unknown to Koutarou.

 Keiji still looked pale, his eyes were still red and bloodshot, but he managed to keep him self on his feet.

 “Where’s Shirofuku-san?” he asked softly, voice sounding oddly loud in the empty room.

 “I have no idea…” Koutarou muttered, his own voice sounding oddly quiet.

 He turned away from the window and walked closer to Keiji.  
 “Should we wake the others up?” he asked.

 “Daishou-san’s door was opened.” Keiji said, looking up at him. “It didn’t seem like there was someone there.”

 “Where can they be then? Are they throwing some midnight party?”

 “Maybe they’re down at the lobby?...”

 Koutarou took a moment to think over Keiji’s words, turning around to look at the opened window again. Despite being obviously scared of something outside, Keiji didn’t seem to mind the window in the room.

 “I think it’ll be best if we head down anyway, even if they’re not there.” he slowly said, running a hand through his hair. He never noticed how troublesome it was when his bangs fell over his forehead, tips grazing just bellow his eyebrows. He didn’t think he had any time, nor did he want to ask Keiji when he had been so upset a few minutes before, but he really wished he could take a few seconds to fix his hair if he wasn’t going to sleep anymore.

 Koutarou looked back at Keiji.

 “Are you sure you’re feeling better now? You freaked me out back there! I thought Yukie was here to give you something for your nerves, but…maybe we really should go to the lobby.”

 Keiji nods and the two turn towards the door.

 

 In the lobby they’re glad to find most of their friends, but there’s a thought that still bothers them. Where’s Yukie. There’s no way Koutarou could know, since he didn’t look out of the window, but Keiji was tormented by another thought. Where was Tetsurou’s car? Neither of them tells the others about Yukie’s disappearance or that of the car, mostly because there’s no time to. When they walk into the lobby, Kenma and Mika stand behind the reception, noses buried in a large notebook. The lights are off and Keiji doesn’t know if they can read what’s written there, but maybe they do, since neither of them looks up from it when Koutarou and Keiji walk down the stairs.

 “What’s going on, bro?!” Koutarou yells, stepping closer to Tetsurou. His voice rings terribly in the empty lobby. “Are you making some kind of party without me?!”

 “I seriously wish it was that, bro.” Tetsurou answers with a sigh. “There’s no sign of the staff, no one’s around and someone…someone wrote some stuff on Daishou’s window.”

 “What stuff?” Keiji asks, raising a brow.

 Tetsurou sighs again and runs a hand through his untamable hair.

 “Long story.” Is the only answer he decides to give.

 “And what are you doing?” Koutarou asks, walking closer to the counter behind which Kenma and Mika stood.

 “I wanted to see something…” Kenma mumbles, sparing Koutarou a short glance.

 Keiji rounds the counter and steps beside Kenma, leaning foreword to get a better look at the register. The only light in the lobby is that of the moon shining from outside and the little light which trickles down the stairs from the floor above, but that’s nearly enough to read the names in the notebook. The handwriting is sloppy and Keiji can barely make out a single kana or kanji, but one thing he can surely see is that some of the names are either underlined or completely colored with colorful markers. Keiji noticed how there were a few pages without any kind of coloring, but then a few names of the next would be underlined with blue or orange. The dates weren’t so far away from the current either, but there always seemed to be at least a month without any names being underlined, then a few would be and then the process would be repeated on the following pages.

 Keiji watched Kenma slowly turn the pages of the register. The last time anything was written in the notebook seemed to be from the day they came into the hotel. Koutarou’s name was the last on written there, since Keiji had used his name for the reservations. The names before his were underlined with blue.

 “Why are most of the names marked?” Mika suddenly asked, voicing Keiji’s observation.

 “Maybe they were special guests or something.” Tetsurou plainly said, looking over the counter at the register. Keiji wondered if he should tell him about the disappearance of his car, as he looked up at him. Maybe he shouldn’t. If he did, Tetsurou would want to go out and right now, going out didn’t seem like a good idea for anyone.

 “Kozume, can you turn a few pages back?” he asked instead, looking at Kenma. “Or even better, can you give me the notebook for a bit?”

 “Sure…”

 Kenma slid the notebook towards Keiji, who quickly turned to the first page. It was a large notebook, one fitted to be the register of a famous hotel. It had around two hundred or even more sheets of paper, a little over half of which were already full with names and dates. Unfortunately for Keiji, the information dated back from one and half years ago. The disappearance of Oikawa Toru and Iwaizumi Hajime had to happen no more than four years ago, judging by what Futakuchi had said. Keiji’s little research had proved his words correct. Therefore their names and reservation date had to be written in a different notebook.

 With that thought in mind, Keiji looked over the counter. Beneath in there were a few closed cabinets and Keiji knelt down to see if the register preceding the one he looked through was hidden somewhere there. To his bad luck, the cabinets were locked and key had to be either with one of the two receptionists or with the manager, Moniwa.

 When Keiji stood back up, Kenma was looking at him questioningly. Keiji decided to spare him the details of his confusing thoughts and doubts, choosing to keep silent rather than explain his weird behavior to him.

 “By the way, since most of you are awake, have you seen Yukie around?” Koutarou asked, but no one answered.

 “The staff seems gone too.” Mika added. “Where do you think everyone went?...”

 “Let me try calling someone.” Suguru said, walking behind the counter. He passed Kenma and Keiji and took the handle of the phone beside the computer. He dialed the emergency number he had memorized since he was a kid and waited. No matter how much he waited however, there was no noise coming from the other side of the line. There wasn’t even a signal.

 “You’re not gonna call anyone like that!” Tetsurou suddenly said, pointing a finger towards the cut cable sticking out from the shadows beside Suguru’s feet. Taking a better look at its visible end however proved that it wasn’t exactly cut. It looked like it was chewed through.

 “What the hell…?” Suguru cursed, kneeling down to get a better look on the end of the cable. “Who the fuck did this? What the hell is going on?”

 “We should go to the all night store on the road and call for help.” Mika said, urgency and worry steadily growing a lot more evident in her voice.

 “You’re not going anywhere until you wash your face.”

 Mika’s cheeks flared from under the white cover of her facial mask, as she grits her teeth against the replay she wanted to give Suguru. She grasped the edges of her night gown and swiftly turned on her heel to walk towards the staircase.

 “Do you want me to come with you?” Keiji suddenly asked, but Mika only looked at him questioningly. He noticed that the others gave him similar looks, but Keiji really couldn’t answer the question why he had called out to Mika. They weren’t close, he really barely knew her, but somehow he feared that if she climbed those stairs now, she would never come back down. If she disappeared now, that would mean no chaos around them and in the current state he was, that would be no good. Keiji felt as if he would break down. His nerves were barely hanging on as it was.

 Mika shook her head.

 “I’ll be fine on my own. It’s just a trip to the forth floor.” That surprised none of them. She had always been an independent woman. “The only thing that freaks me out a bit is that writing…”

 “What writing?” Keiji quickly asked, feeling Kenma stiffen beside him. He couldn’t believe how conscious he was of Kenma’s reactions.

 “It’s pretty creepy…” Mika said, a shudder running through her body as she remembered the sight. “But it has to be some kind of joke.”

 “Are you sure you don’t anyone to go with you?” Suguru asked this time, but Mika only shook her head.

 “I’ll be fine.”

 “I’ll go too.” Koutarou said suddenly, “I…wanna get dressed and fix my hair a bit.”

 “You’re hair’s perfect bro.” Tetsurou jokingly said and Koutarou grinned.

 “Thanks, bro. But it’s really uncomfortable.”

 Keiji watched the two go, a strange, retched feeling of dread and fright settling over his stomach. He wondered if this would be the last time he saw Koutarou. Would he come back down the stairs he was climbing now?

 Keiji tried to get rid of the terrifying thought, choosing instead to think positively and rationally. But how could he think positively and rationally when he saw the devil staring at him outside of his bedroom window?

 “I’ll go get the car.” Announced Tetsurou, but Keiji once again stopped him.

 “I think we should wait for Bokuto-san and Mika-san to come back.”

 “But shouldn’t we look for Shirofuku while we wait?” Suguru said, looking at Keiji. “You said she’s gone. Maybe she forgot something in the car and went to get it.”

 “Isn’t it a bit late?” Tetsurou asked, raising a brow. “It’s past midnight, she would have been asleep by now.”

 “But she obviously isn’t.”

 “That doesn’t mean she’s at the car. But fine, never mind, we’ll wait for Bo and Mika, if you want so much, Akaashi.”

 Keiji muttered a quiet thank you, before looking down at the register again. The feeling he had never ceased, it only grew and he finally understood that it would be a miracle if they made it out of the hotel by sunrise.

 All alive and together.

 

 

 Mika came down a few moments later, dressed in her clothes from the afternoon, carrying Suguru’s jacket with her self. Koutarou had been thoughtful enough to bring not only his and Keiji’s, but Tetsurou and Kenma’s jackets as well. Keiji didn’t know how cold it was outside, but in the mountains, at night and in autumn the temperatures definitely fell bellow zero.

 “Some of us should stay here and look for Yukie and the staff.” Said Tetsurou, pulling on his jacket. “Does anyone want to come to the store down the road with me?”

 “I’m coming.” Muttered Kenma, stepping as close to Tetsurou as he could manage without looking suspicious.

 “I kind of want to come too.” Mika said, rubbing her arms as if she was cold. “I don’t really want to stay here anymore…Come with us too, Suguru.”

 “I will, but…” Suguru sighed and turned towards Koutarou. “You’ll be here alone…If you want I can stay.”

 “No, you go!” quickly said Koutarou, reaching to wrap a hand securely around Keiji’s shoulders. The quick gesture made Keiji’s heart jump. “We’ll look for someone of the staff and for Yukie, but if we don’t find them, we’ll take my car and follow you.”

 “Are you sure you can handle things here on your own, bro?” Tetsurou also asked, looking at Koutarou, who only waved a hand dismissively at him.

 “You’re talking as if we’re in a survival game! We’ll just look around and if we don’t find anyone…If we don’t we’ll take my car and find you along the way.”

 “Or maybe we can call for help from here?” Keiji spoke, not very pleased with staying behind in the hotel, be it with Koutarou.

 “There’s no cover here…” Kenma muttered again. “I tried calling.”

 “If something’s the matter Akaashi, and you don’t want to stay, you can go with them.” Offered Koutarou, looking at Keiji.

 “No, I’ll stay with you.” Keiji quickly said, not wanting to leave Koutarou alone in the hotel. He didn’t want to stay either, but if Koutarou was staying, he felt like he should stay with him. Any further protesting was unneeded.

 “We’ll be off then.” Tetsurou said, turning towards the glass doors. Keiji wondered what his reaction would be once he saw the empty space instead of his treasured car. He didn’t have to think about it much however. The moment their friends walked out of the doors into the dark night, Koutarou took his hand and led him somewhere into the hotel, talking about finding Yukie.

 There was nothing Keiji could think about, as he walked behind Koutarou, holding onto his hand as if for dear life. He felt watched, he felt observed.

 Most of all he felt _alone_.

 

 Despite the lights in the hotel somewhat working on the upper floors, there was no light reaching outside to the parking lot. The little moonlight which makes its self present manages to illuminate the metallic paint of Koutarou’s car, but there’s no shine to prove Tetsurou’s car is beside it. It’s either hidden by the shadows of the forest beside it or completely gone, but no one really thinks that is the case until they reach the parking lot, Mika clinging to Suguru’s arm, while Kenma tries desperately not to do the same.

 Only when they’re at a short distance away from the place where Tetsurou was sure he parked his car a day ago they notice its absence. It’s an odd and bizarre sight and at first no one knows what to say or do, as they stare absently at the wet ground of the parking lot, where they remember Tetsurou’s car was peacefully parked the same morning.

 “Where…is my car?” Tetsurou slowly asked, raising his hands up in disbelief as he looked around the mostly empty parking lot, as if he would spot his car a few feet away if he did. The scene was almost comedic, but knowing where he was and what the circumstances were, Kenma couldn’t even think about laughing.

 The situation had to be especially dire if even Suguru could only snort in amusement, instead of laughing loudly enough to make his voice ring around to the darkest depths of the forest around them.

 “It was here.” Tetsurou insists, narrowing his eyes as he glares at the spot his beloved car had been taking not long ago. “I saw it when we came back from dinner! Are you messing with me now Daishou?!”

 Suguru raises his hands up in defense, grinning at Tetsurou’s outburst.

 “Why would I wake up to steal your terrible car, kitten?” he mockingly says, earning only a light jab in the ribs from Mika, who still refuses to leave his side.

 “This isn’t the time to joke.” She sternly says, “This isn’t some prank war either. Maybe Yukie-chan took it…”

 “Where did she take it without keys?!” Tetsurou asks, throwing his arms in the air again. The entire situation is outrageous. It makes him oddly angry, not because his car is gone, but there’s something else as well. Something leaks out of the shadows of his mind and Tetsurou remembers Kenma’s words. Kenma’s worries and fears. Kenma’s warnings…

 “Did she carry it, did she push it?” he continues to talk, voice growing louder. He has no rational explanation this time, one which could trick his mind, and that only makes him more frustrated.

 “Kuro, calm down.” Kenma weakly says from beside him, but his voice is so quiet, he wonders if he even talked or thought about saying the words.

 “How can I calm down? The car is gone, Kenma! Gone! And the keys were with me the whole day! Who ever took it had to either push it somewhere or practically lift it and run away! What is this – pick-pocketing?!”

 “Should we go back and ask Bokuto-kun for the keys for his car, or…?” Mika offers weakly, not very sure if she should speak or not.

 Tetsurou continues to stomp around angrily, fingers dipping into his wild hair, disheveling it further.

 “That’s not the point here.” He says, voice strained. “There’s no way the car can just disappear…That’s impossible…”

 Mika frowns, looking down at the ground. When Kenma looks up at her, he sees her face go pale, despite the darkness. Her fingers tighten around Suguru’s arm, her eyes darting around the darkness. Kenma would be happy if he too had an anchor, but Tetsurou’s pacing doesn’t give him the chance to grab onto him.

 “Something must have taken it then…” Suguru lowly says, sudden wind ruffling his neatly styled hair. His bangs fall over his narrowed eyes as he speaks. “Something with enough power to just lift your ugly car like it’s a toy and disappear.”

 “What are you talking about?” Tetsurou hisses, not very amused with the way Suguru was speaking. He never really liked Suguru’s voice, but right now, it made him shudder with disgust and something else he couldn’t distinguish. “Cut the crap, _please_.”

 “I’m not saying anything weird.” Suguru continued with a light shrug. “First Shirofuku’s gone, now your car. Strange disappearances have been happening around the forest either way. I wouldn’t be surprised if something came from the fence and took you away faster than a blink!”

 “Suguru…” Mika softly says, looking up at her boyfriend.

 At his sharp words, Kenma feels him self stiffen.

 “Shut up…” he hears him self say quietly, but this time, no one hears him.   
 “I’m not saying I wouldn’t be happy if it did, but I think its time you got a grip, threw away that false rationality of yours and understood that something big is going on here! Something you can’t understand, fuck, something _I_ can’t understand! The window, Shirofuku, that couple, your damn car! They didn’t just turn and left, so you can’t you finally accept that some weird shit’s already happening around you, Kuroo!”

 “ _Suguru_!”

 Through the echoes of their vices, another sound fills the night air (not as still as it was when they first walked out), a lot sharper. It takes both Tetsurou and Kenma a while to understand that Mika had slapped Suguru with enough force to make his head snap to the side. Her shuddering breath came out in short puffs, turning into small clouds of fog around her.

 The slap successfully managed to shut Suguru up and he blinked in surprise, reaching up to softly touch his reddening cheek. He looked at Mika, whose hands shivered over her sides.

 “I can’t believe you said that…” she slowly says, “If you really believe your self, then why are you yelling at Kuroo-kun?! Don’t you have any shame?!” she looks up, narrowed eyes meeting Suguru’s wide ones. “If you really think we’re in danger here, why do you turn against those around you?! If you were scared in the beginning, why didn’t you ask for help?! How can you be so selfish?!...”

 Before any of them could react, a shadow darker than any black shoots out from the direction of the fence behind Mika and wraps around her thin ankle. Her voice is still echoing in the darkness around them when she screams, as the tentacle around her ankle suddenly tugs at her sharply, making her fall onto the wet concrete. It tugs sharply again and Mika yells out Suguru’s name, snapping him out of the sudden daze he’s cast into.

 “Mika-chan!” he yells in turn and throws him self onto the concrete, grabbing onto Mika’s hands. The monster in the shadows tugs again, with enough force to make Suguru’s body move with Mika’s, as she yells in pain and fear.

 “It _hurts_ , Suguru!” the girl yells, cry after cry filling the night. “Don’t let me go, _please_! _I don’t want to die_!”

 Suddenly aware of how the thing over the fence is dragging Suguru along with Mika without a problem, Tetsurou finally reacts. He runs towards Suguru and grabs onto his jacket, pulling him back, but not by much. He suddenly understands that this game of tug-a-war is in vain and that they were meant to be the losers before it even began.

 More pained wails fill the air and Kenma finds him self covering his ears with furiously shaking hands.

 “Suguru!” Mika cries out again, hands slowly slipping away from Suguru’s. “Don’t let me go Suguru!”

 “I won’t!” Suguru yells back, trying to grab onto her hands tighter. “I won’t let you go, I promise! _I won’t let you go_!”

 “ _Sugu_ -“

 The tentacle around Mika’s ankle slithers up, wrapping around most of her thin leg. It gives a sharp tug back and Mika yells, as her fingers slip from between Suguru’s, leaving his hands empty, fingers outstretched towards her. Their eyes meat for the last time, both wide in fear and panic. Everything’s like in slow motion and Mika’s horrified expression burns deep into Suguru’s memory, making a deep mark in his racing mind.

 Mika is gone in seconds. Gone into the shadows, somewhere over the fence, dragged away by some mysterious force. Only her screams are left, as a haunting memory of her.

 Suguru’s eyes widen, as his breathing picks up. His fingers grab over the concrete, but it’s no use anymore. Above him, Tetsurou slowly stands up, legs threatening to give up under him.

 For a long moment no one speaks. It’s all too surreal for any of them to speak. Mika’s screams and wails as if continue to ring around, but there’s nothing like that. She’s gone. And she would never return.

 Suddenly aware of what was happening, Suguru stands up. He almost falls again as he tries to walk towards the fence, calling out for Mika in desperation. Just before his body is enveloped in the shadows of the forest, Tetsurou manages to catch up to him. He wraps his arms around Suguru’s middle and pulls him back, but Suguru fights back against him, trying to reach the fence, trying to reach Mika.

 “Mika-chan!” he continues to yell, but receives no replay from the forest. “ _Mika-chan_! Let me go…Let me go! I have to get to her, I have to _save_ _her_! _Let me fucking go, Tetsurou_!”

 “No!” Tetsurou yells back, pulling him away from the shadows and back into the moonlight. “Stop it Daishou! She’s gone! You’ll be gone too if you go after her!”

 “You don’t understand…I-I have to…I promised…Let me go! I have to get Mika!”

 One of Suguru’s arms manages to hit Tetsurou’s nose and he steps back, hands shooting up to his burning nose.

 Suguru falls on his knees and tries to crawl back to the fence, but Tetsurou’s quicker than him. He throws his body over Suguru’s, trapping him between himself and the concrete.

 “STOP!” he yells again, as Suguru tries to wriggle away from him, managing to cease his struggling. “She’s GONE, okay! GONE! You can’t do anything about it! But you can live! Stop fighting and accept it! She’s dead, Suguru, _dead_! Accept it damn it, _accept_ _it_!”

 Suguru stills under him and Tetsurou tries to breath. His throat is dry and he can hear Kenma’s ragged breathing from somewhere beside them. He knows he has to do go to him to, but he’s more afraid that if he lets Suguru go, he’ll disappear into the forest and never come back.

 Suguru’s shoulders shudder and when Tetsurou sits up, he’s surprised to see the other sobbing. The snake with the sharp tongue from his childhood, the one he knows to the point of pain, is now miserably lying on the ground, crying like a child. An unwanted wave of sympathy washes over Tetsurou and he turns towards Kenma, who’s shivering in his spot, eyes tightly closed and shaking hands covering his ears.

 Kenma’s eyes open slowly, tears sliding down his paled cheeks and Tetsurou outstretches a hand towards him. Kenma breaths shakily and makes a few uncertain steps towards Tetsurou, relief washing over him when their fingers meat. Tetsurou takes his shivering hand into his and pulls him closer, while Suguru continues to sob on the ground beneath him, hand outstretched towards the dark, as if Mika will reach out to him and take his hand, like the way Kenma had taken Tetsurou’s into his.

 Tetsurou slowly stands up, when he’s sure Suguru wont try to run towards the darkness again. This time, Kenma kneels down beside his slack body and Tetsurou watches him curiously, as he reaches towards Suguru, who barely registers his presence so close beside him.

 “Daishou-san?...” Kenma softly says, shivering fingers stilling mere millimeters away from Suguru’s heaving shoulder. His crying isn’t by far ugly. It’s emotional and heartbreaking. Tetsurou can hardly believe his ears and eyes. He doesn’t want to. Despite it coming from Suguru, who he knows to lack any kind of emotions that aren’t greed, arrogance and hypocrisy, the heartbroken noise makes his heart wrench and hurt. He doesn’t even want to think what it would be in his place. Doesn’t want to imagine him self crying on the ground for Kenma. But the image fills his mind and he closes his eyes tightly, trying to make it disappear.

 “She said I was selfish…” Suguru quietly says, as Kenma’s fingers finally touch his shoulder. “The last thing she told me was that I was selfish…I am selfish! I _am_! But if it was for _her_ …I would have given her the stars and moon! I would do anything if it means getting her back now!” he raises his fist and hits the wet ground beneath him, the sharp movement making Kenma flinch. “Damn it! _Damn it_! Damn it all, damn it! I know I act like an ass most of the time, I fucking know it, but never to her! _Never_ to her! I’m sorry I didn’t give you the attention you deserved, Mika-chan…I know I didn’t listen to you, I know I yelled at you, but _I can change it_! I can change it if you just come back…I can change it…”

 Tetsurou’s heart hurts again and he feels hot tears gathering in his eyes. But not for Suguru. Never for Suguru…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Curse me all you want, this is actually one of the first scenes I came up with before writing this.  
> My heart hurts...I really can't hate Daishou, even if he's trash. The feelings I have towards him are like the ones I have for Oikawa, too damn great...


	6. 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this took forever, but here it is!!! WARNING: This chapter contains death and drama and I'm so sorry I had to write it, but you guys signed up for this so I'm not so sorry now!  
> We're slowly coming to the end of this and I'm almost sure this will be done by the end of the month, at least I will try to have it ready by then. Until then...Have fun reading!

Their steps echoed around them as they walked down the hall leading towards the indoor pool of the hotel. Small round lights blinked and buzzed above them, lighting their way.

 A loud crack echoed somewhere from behind them and Keiji quickly turned around. The sores of the sound however was nothing more than the shattering of a light bulb, the pieces of which now lay scattered on the tailed floor a few feet away from Keiji.

 Gulping down the saliva gathered in his mouth, he slowly turned around and followed Koutarou down the hall. Despite the way the décor around them was meant to be soothing and relaxing, Keiji couldn’t help but feel as if he was aboard a sinking submarine, the water pressure slowly bending it further into its self and pushing them closer to the awaiting demise.

 The pool was supposed to be cleaned twice a day and if the lights were still on, then Keiji decided that there was supposed to be someone still there, despite the late hours. Koutarou led them through the empty corridors towards the equally empty changing rooms before the pool. Keiji could hear the flow of water through the pipes in the corners of the ceiling above them.

 In the opposite end of the changing room there was a door leading to the pool. Keiji could see soft bluish light coming from under it, meaning that the lights behind it were still on. His brows furrowed and he watched as Koutarou reached towards the door handle in anticipation. What could be hiding behind the door? Or was there anything at all? Anything beside the empty pool?

 The lights above them flickered and Keiji once again felt as if he was in a slowly sinking submarine, slowly descending into the darkness of the ocean.

 When Koutarou wrapped his fingers over the cold surface of the handle, Keiji reached out and grabbed his other hand.

 “I want to go back.” He quickly said, once Koutarou looked at him in surprise and curiosity. “Let’s go back to the others and go with them to the store.”

 “But won’t it be better if we looked for other people or the staff here?” Koutarou asked with a tilt of his head. “The lights here are still on, so there must be someone here, right?”

 “It’ll be better if we stayed together.” Keiji pressed, but something in Koutarou’s words spiked a question in him. Why were the lights in the lobby out, but they were working down here? “Let’s go back.”

 “You go back if you want. I’ll go get someone from the staff.” Koutarou said, pressing down on the door handle, much to Keiji’s dismay. “Not to mention that Yukie might be here and we can’t just leave her.”

 Keiji was about to pull Koutarou back if anything awaited from behind the door, but when Koutarou pushed it open, the only thing waiting for them behind it was the still full pool. The water in it was crystal clear. The light which Keiji had saw coming from underneath the door came from little lights on the bottom of the pool. The entire large room was filled with the dancing shadows and sparkles of the water. It was as if the two were in an aquarium, where they were surrounded by numerous fish tanks and lights in blue hues.

 Keiji let go of Koutarou’s hand, just as the other made a few confident steps inside.

 “There’s no one here either?...Where could the staff be? I mean, it’s late, but why are the lights still on?”

 Keiji slowly followed Koutarou into the tailed room, as Koutarou walked down the edge of the pool, visibly marveling at the shining surface of the liquid and the dancing shadows around them.

 “Let’s go back now, Bokuto-san.” Keiji once again said, voice almost sounding like a plea. “I’m…I’m worried about the others.”

 “Why?” Koutarou asked, looking at him in concern. “Look, Akaashi, if something’s the matter, you have to tell me. You don’t look good…”

 “I just want to go back. I…I don’t feel good here. I don’t know if you feel it too, but I do, and it’s terrible.”

 Keiji makes a pause, listening to the steady sound of the water gushing through the pipes around them and the ventilating system. Koutarou waits for him to continue patiently, but it’s obvious that his concern and worry are growing with every passing second of silence.

 “This hotel isn’t a nice place.” Keiji finally says, looking up at Koutarou. “I want to leave.”

 “How about you go with Kuroo and the others if they haven’t left yet…” Koutarou slowly offers, “And I’ll stay here to look for Yukie? We can’t leave her if she’s still here.”

 “I’m not saying that, but please come with me.” Keiji almost begs. “If she’s here, she’ll be here when we come back too. Let’s go together, please _Koutarou_.”

 The use of his given name makes Koutarou blink. It’s unusual for Keiji to use it most of the time. That and the tone of vulnerability in his voice makes him worry and rethink the situation they’re in. He can’t leave Yukie in the hotel, but how can he leave Keiji alone as well when he definitely doesn’t look nor act like him self from fright.

 With a soft sigh, Koutarou walks closer to Keiji and gently sets his hands over his thin shoulders. The touch alone is enough to make Keiji flinch.

 “I understand that there’s something bothering you,” Koutarou gently begins and Keiji can’t help but look up at him. It’s not usual for Koutarou to act so soft and understanding towards him. It’s not like most of the time he’s rough and disrespectful towards Keiji’s feelings, but he’s normally so loud and dense. It’s hard for Keiji to decide weather he’s fully understanding his feelings or not most of the time. When he looks up into his eyes now however, they show nothing more than love and kindness and the mere thought that that look is reserved only for Keiji makes him melt, as if he’s in a cheap romantic comedy movie. He actually wished that that was the case. “I saw you change a lot since we came here. You started to act more jumpy and worried and…You almost look as if you aged with thirty years or more! I’m sorry I did nothing to help you, but you normally don’t like talking or shearing things with me, so I decided to give you time. I’m sorry I did and didn’t act as pushy as I normally am. I’m sorry, Keiji.”

 Akaashi again gulps down the saliva in his mouth and reaches up to touch Koutarou’s hands on his shoulders. His skin burns hot, unlike his own freezing and shivering palms. He has so many things to say. So much to tell him. But the words refuse to come out. He wants to tell Koutarou how much he loves him and how thankful he is that he met him. Wants to tell him how there’s no one else he would rather spend his life with and how much he relies on him.

 But in the end, the only thing he can do is stare up at Koutarou, blinking back the sudden urge to cry.

 “This isn’t some cheap horror movie.” Koutarou continues confidently, “We’re not the staring characters either. I bet there’s some completely rational explanation for everything that’s happening and we just have to be patient and wait for it to come. Until then, there’s nothing to worry about or fear, alright?”

 This time, before continuing, Koutarou wraps his arms firmly around Keiji and buries his face in the crock of his neck. Keiji doesn’t hesitate to return the hug.

 “I’ll stay and search for the staff and Yukie.” Koutarou slowly continued, his hold on Keiji loosening, “You go to Kuroo and go with them to the store down the road if they’re not on the way yet, alright?”

 “I don’t want to leave you here alone.” Keiji quickly said, looking up at Koutarou, who merely shook his head.

 “I already told you, there’s nothing to fear. Just trust me for once, okay?”

 “I…I always trusted you…”

 “Then just go! Come on.”

 Koutarou gave Keiji one of his best grins and twirled him towards the door to the changing rooms, giving his back a gentle push foreword.

 “There’s a staff room on the other end of the room, I’ll go check if anyone’s there, and if there’s no one, I’ll come to you.” He assured and Keiji nodded, giving him a final glance over his shoulder, before slowly heading towards the door to the changing rooms. His steps echoed loudly in the tiled room as he walked, mixing with Koutarou’s as the later walked over the edge of the pool and ogled at the water on his way to the mentioned staff room.

 Keiji didn’t want to leave him alone. Overcome by a striking feeling of dread and fear, all Keiji wanted to do was run up to Koutarou and pull him far away from the pool and the room, full of moving shadows and blue lights. His legs mechanically led him towards the door of the changing room, as if they weren’t his and took no other command than to walk foreword. As much as Keiji wanted to turn back, he couldn’t stop him self from walking into the empty room, where the walls were covered with dark tiles and the sounds of his steps and those of the dripping water from sinks and showerheads were as if louder than thunder.

 Once he crossed the threshold of the door, all the feelings of love and fright and loneliness disappeared. Everything he had felt while leaving Koutarou behind was replaced with cold emptiness. Keiji didn’t even feel relieved when he was freed from the feeling of nagging dread and slowly creeping insanity.

 The shadows in the room became darker and Keiji was ready to swear that his body had gotten lighter. Completely free of emotion and control of him self, Keiji felt as if he was floating. Felt as if his soul had broken the chain with its vessel and was now soaring above it. The feeling was scary and dark and he wanted it to disappear, but he couldn’t do anything to do so. He was under the control of something which had hidden its self in the darkness of the shadows around him.

 The door behind Keiji began to close with a soft creak, which he could barely hear over the loudening sounds around him. He felt him self turn, one step at a time towards the closing door. His wide green eyes caught a glimpse of Koutarou leaning over the edge of the pool, completely calm and careless to what was happening with Keiji. And Keiji knows it should stay that way, that Koutarou should continue to observe his reflection in the water with oblivion, but there’s something telling him that it _shouldn’t be like that_. That Koutarou _shouldn’t continue to be so oblivious to Keiji’s feelings_.

 That new realization spikes new feelings in Keiji. Those new feelings taking over the place in his heart reserved only for the love and care for Koutarou. Feelings like hate and jealousy. The desire to yell at Koutarou for all the years Keiji had spend keeping the pain and grief of their relationship to him self grows, hitting its peak just as the door closes softly and Keiji can’t see Koutarou anymore.

 The only thing left in Keiji’s being is the desire to wrap his hands around that lean, slightly tanned neck he had kissed all these years and his heart skips as his hands itch…

 

 A strong gust of coldness hits Koutarou and before he could yell or turn to face the lighting fast intruder, he’s already engulfed in cooling water. Fingers tighten around his neck and something heavy presses him down into the pool, as he tries desperately to swim up and breathe.

 Water invades his mouth and lungs as bubbles float around him. Despite the burn in his eyes and the panic in his veins, Koutarou manages to take a look at the being keeping him down. It’s dark, like a shadow. Its eyes shine bright red. But it might be his imagination. The shadow might be the effect of his vanishing sight and those red orbs, staring at him with so much hate can just be part of the little stars dancing around his vision as everything vanishes.

 Koutarou’s hands stop flailing around and he tries to pray the heavy fingers off of his neck. Bubbles of oxygen continue to escape his opened mouth and he thinks, or even if he doesn’t, he just notices, how beautiful his last breath is around him…

 His nails dig into the flesh of the being’s hands, but it doesn’t let go of him. Koutarou’s panic rises as his lungs burn for air, but no matter how much he fights and struggles into the water around him, he can’t escape and reach the surface.

 For a second he feels his fingers scraping against something metal around one of the shadow being’s wrists, but just as they do, Koutarou is hit with a great realization. The realization that his death is far too near than he had expected it to be. His vision blurs and he thinks about Keiji in his last moments, as his last heart beats happen in his chest.

 He remembers all the promises he had given Keiji just seconds ago. All the reassuring words he had told him. He remembers his embrace, weaker than his but so warm and perfect. All the memories with Keiji hit him just like the gust of coldness which had thrown him into the cold water of the pool. The panic and pain seeps away from him, replace by the warmth those memories bring.

 They’re warm like the summer day the two had went out on their first date. They’re refreshing just like their first night together and beautiful just like every day spent together ever since. Tetsurou’s present in the same memories, shines with the same brightness, but Keiji is the one Koutarou sees. The one he sees smiling up at him and the one he sees crying on his shoulder. He’s the one comforting him and embracing him through his toughest moments, the one kissing his worries away.

 As the veil of death settles over Koutarou, as his mind shuts out and his heart stops thumping, he’s sure he sees Keiji’s face. Sees his beautiful green eyes and his pale face. The last thought that passes through his mind is that _if he dies with Keiji’s face before his eyes, then death isn’t as scary as it was a second before_.

 A last bubble of air floats up towards the surface and passes by the image of Keiji’s face, just a slow tear slides down the pale cheek Koutarou had kissed so many times before and wished to kiss and hold once more. If he ever had a death wish, then that would be it. As egoistical as it would be, Koutarou wanted to die with Keiji by his side, holding him and whispering promises of a better life with him over the threshold of death.

 But that is so poetic, it’s more than impossible.

 Because Keiji’s nowhere near him now as his body relaxes under the heavy pressure of the water. The only thing left for Koutarou to hold on to as he dies, is the image of Keiji above him, silently crying for him…

 Bokuto Koutarou’s fingers slide off of the bruised wrists of his Keiji, fingers catching something along the way, something which falls towards the bottom of the pool, and just like that, his life is over before it had the chance to begin.

\--- 

 They had to think quickly in a situation such as this. Or more like, Tetsurou had to think quickly. Right now he was the only one with enough rationality left to find a solution to their problem. He had enough leadership skills, but even so, his nerves were quickly nearing the edge. So he tried to relax and breathe. If he left him self fall to the ground like Suguru, no one would have the chance to leave the hotel safely.

 It was obvious that taking his car and driving to the store down the road wasn’t a plan anymore, but they still had Koutarou’s car. Thinking about Koutarou and Keiji, who were still in the hotel alone, made Tetsurou shudder. They couldn’t effort being separated in the current situation. That’s why Tetsurou quickly made up a new plan. They had to go back and find the two, most importantly get the keys to Koutarou’s car, and drive as far away as possible from the hotel and the forest. Seeing how quickly Mika had disappeared in the darkness, Tetsurou was now sure that the staff, Yukie and the couple officer Sawamura had came to look for had followed a similar fate. The mere thought that the same could happen to them made his heart clench and throb painfully.

 Bringing his mind back to the problem at hand, Tetsurou looked at Suguru, who was still sitting on the wet ground, back leaning against the front of Koutarou’s car. Kenma stood beside him, looking up at Tetsurou with expectation. Tetsurou knew what he was expecting of him. He could clearly read the silent message in Kenma’s eyes. He was currently looking for answers in him, giving him all his trust that he would get them safe out of the pit they had fallen into.

 It gave Tetsurou strength, but that was barely enough for him now. Because normally he was a man of rationality and believed in the things he could only see and touch. He wasn’t used to dealing with paranormal phenomenon and monsters hiding in the shadows. It felt as if he was currently reviving all of his childhood nightmares, but they were a lot more vivid and terrifying. Most of all, there was a big chance that they could grab him and take him away to the lands of screams and shadows he had feared for most of his oblivious childhood.

 With a deep sigh, he did something which he had found unthinkable a few hours ago. He leaned down and offered Suguru a hand to help him stand. Seeing him so ruined had been something Tetsurou had dreamed of, but he quickly took the wish back. No one deserved being separated from the person he loved as dearly as Suguru had actually loved Mika. No matter how evil and disgusting the person was. For a long time till now Tetsurou had detested Suguru, hated him even. But seeing him so broken was quickly becoming something he hated more. Because he knew that there was a big chance of him being in his spot or ending up in it by the end of the night.

 Suguru only looked at his hand from under his bangs before slowly reaching up to take it into his own. Tetsurou recalled how normally he would throw in a biting comment about how he didn’t need his help, but he was silent now. Tetsurou didn’t know if that was a good or bad sign

 “We’re going back to the hotel.” he said, once Suguru was up on his still shaking feet. “We’ll find Bo and Akaashi and then go to the store. No one’s staying behind this time. We won’t be searching for anyone else. Once we get to the store, we’ll call the police. Is the plan clear enough?”

 Kenma gave a short nod, stepping closer to him, while Suguru remained silent. Even so, it was obvious he was ready to go with his rival’s plan.

 “Alright then.” Tetsurou courtly said with a short nod of his own. “Let’s go.”

 They cross the parking lot almost in a run and the feeling of relief Tetsurou feels once they’re walking through the glass doors of the hotel’s lobby is greater than anything else he has ever felt. The lights are now flickering above them, but at least they know they’re working. The lobby feels cold and there’s no other sound around them that their breathing.

 “You can sit down on the couches and I’ll go look for Bo and Akaashi.” Tetsurou says, looking back at Kenma and Suguru.

 “But you said we won’t split again.” Kenma argues, a worried frown creeping over his face. “We’ll go with you, what if…”

 “No.” Tetsurou shakes his head, looking down at Kenma, “We’re safe in the hotel. Remember the words on Daishou’s window? Who ever wrote them said that we shouldn’t let _them_ in. What ever those _they_ are, it’s possible that they can’t come inside the hotel without some kind of invitation first. Stay here together and I promise I’ll be back soon, alright?”

 “But what if it doesn’t work that way and more things like what took Mika-san are already here?” Kenma tries to weakly protest, but Tetsurou already had his mind made up. He wasn’t about to risk taking Kenma with him self if what awaited him was death.

 The only thing he did was shake his head, before looking up Suguru, who continued to stay silent behind Kenma, waiting for their conversation to end.

 “I’m leaving Kenma with you.” He tells him with a note of seriousness in his smooth voice and Suguru looks up at him with a slow nod. “I don’t want you freaking out and leaving him alone if anything happens, got it? If I find out you did…”

 “I won’t.” Suguru calmly states. There’s no confidence in his voice. He sounds completely blank and emotionless. He doesn’t sound nor look scared as well, despite their current situation. “You…You can count on me.”

 Tetsurou had never imagine to fall as low as believing and counting on Suguru, so much as to even entrust him with Kenma’s life, but something tells him that the snake is worthy of his trust. Right now, there’s no time to doubt him and it’s definitely not the time for the two to be arguing.

 “I trust you.” He finds him self saying and Suguru gives an affirmative nod.

 “Promise me you’ll come back.” Kenma softly says as Tetsurou turns to head down the hall leading somewhere behind the reception.

 Tetsurou tries his best to grin and nods.

 “I’ll be back before you have enough time to start worrying.”

 “Are you sure?”

 The two look each other and Tetsurou’s heart skips as he sees all the emotions hidden in Kenma’s normally emotion free eyes. The moment would have been almost romantic if neither of them knew what kind of a mess they had gotten into.

 Tetsurou nods again.

 “I promise, alright?”

 Before Kenma had the time to protest further, Tetsurou turns towards the hall and walks through the lobby with large, confident strides. If he had stayed longer, he felt as if he wouldn’t have the strength to go search for Koutarou and Keiji. If he had stayed there, looking into Kenma’s large eyes, he would have remained there, waiting either for savior or his own death.

 The farther away he walks from the lobby and the flickering lights there, the more Tetsurou gets lost in his own hazardous thoughts. The silence around him is loud enough to make his ears ring. The sound of his steps against the tiled floor adds to his uncertainty and slowly raising fear. He feels alone, but in the same time feels as if he isn’t the only one walking down the halls, further into the hotel and down to where the spa is supposed to be, a bit before the room for the pool he had visited a day ago.

 Thinking about how happy everyone was a day ago makes Tetsurou so frustrated and angry. How could things turn downward so quickly? What had they done to deserve something like this? Sure, maybe he wasn’t as nice as he believed and he had done something bad enough to deserve such a fate, but what on earth had Mika done to be taken away in the shadows of the forest? What did Yukie ever done to deserve the same? But maybe it wasn’t something they had done. Maybe it was some twisted coincidence that they had ended up in that exact hotel, in that exact time when everything had escalated to the point of destruction and death.

 All Tetsurou knew now was that if he ever did make it out of the hotel alive, he would never be as eager to leave his zone of comfort in the big city.

 He should have never come here as well, but it was all such a good idea. How could they have ever known that this would happen to them? No one knew, no one had the ability to understand that something would be happening. But Tetsurou had the power to stop things before they escalated. He could have done it by simply listening and believing Kenma’s words. About the red eyed monster and about his growing anxiety, which had risen considerably during their time in the hotel. If Tetsurou had only listened, if he had been more conscious towards Kenma’s feelings, he could have done something to prevent everything which was happening.

 But that’s who he simply was. If he didn’t see or touch something, he couldn’t believe it was real. That’s just the man he was, but maybe that was about to change if he survived the night.

 Deciding that it would be better if he looked around the places where the staff might find shelter if anything had actually made it into the hotel, Tetsurou walks down the stairs towards the spa the girls had found a liking to yesterday. The lights down the halls flicker, some of the small light bulbs had burst due to some mysterious force, their pieces lying over the floor. Tetsurou tries to be cautious as he walks down the green halls, tries not to walk faster, but finds him self dramatically failing his self set task. He can’t help but feel followed and wants nothing more but to reach Koutarou and Keiji. Above the paranoia, his fear for both of their well being is greater.

 Just as he takes a turn towards the entrance of the pool however, Tetsurou is hit by a wave of coldness. The temperatures in the hall as if drop bellow zero and he shudders, despite being dressed warmly enough. This time, Tetsurou isn’t alone either. Just as he steps into the hall towards the changing rooms and the pool, he is met with the sight of another human figure. His heart leaps in relief and he almost forgets the shivers running up his spine and the ones that rock through his whole body as the person on the other end of the hall looks at him.

 “I’m not alone?...” the person whispers in disbelief as he stares at Tetsurou, who can only stare back dumbfounded, body refusing to move. The person slowly grins in just as much relief, as Tetsurou is currently feeling, even though he isn’t sure if he’s showing it. “Thank God, I’m not alone!” the person cheers, “I couldn’t find anyone and I almost freaked out! I’m so glad I’m not alone!”

 “Who…are you exactly?” Tetsurou asks, finally breaking free from his shock, “What are you doing here?”

 “I think…” the person begins, “I think I’m lost.”

 The person takes a moment to consider his next words, before looking up at Tetsurou and continuing.

 “I was here with my Iwa-chan, you know, he tried to be romantic and actually took me here for our anniversary! It was so great, but he disappeared and I’ve been looking for him everywhere! I just can’t find him! But…Have you seen him?”

 He looks up at Tetsurou with hope in his brown eyes, but Tetsurou can only shake his head. He had barely seen any people since they arrived, save for the staff.

 The person’s hope shatters and he looks down at his shoes.

 “I’m really worried about Iwa-chan…” he quietly admits, more to him self than to Tetsurou. “It’s not like him to just leave. And this place is so…so scary. I told him that we should go home yesterday, but he said that we had two more days reserved and that we should make the better out of them. Well…He can’t say I didn’t warn him if something happens!”

 Tetsurou can’t replay anything, because he swears he had never seen this person, he doesn’t know about his problems or what he’s talking about, but his words remind him so much of his current situation and Kenma’s warnings a few hours ago. The realization makes him cringe. Because if anything happens, _it will be his fault_.

 “What did you say your name was?” he slowly asks, making the other turn his attention towards him once again.

 “Oikawa.” He quickly says, “Oikawa Tooru. And you are?”

 Tetsurou hesitates before he answers, mostly because he has the odd feeling that he has heard the very same name before, but can’t quite put his finger on it and explain where from to him self. That’s why he neglects the feeling of déjà vu he has from hearing Oikawa’s name and gives him his own.

 “Kuroo.” He plainly says, not bothering to give him his given name.

 Oikawa smiles at him then.

 “Kuro-chan then.” He playfully exclaims and Tetsurou is confused how he can act so careless in such a situation. Or maybe he’s completely oblivious to the actually scary things happening outside the hotel and is only concerned about his Iwa-chan, who ever that might be. Something inside his mind keeps telling him that Iwa-chan will never really come back, but he can’t find the strength to tell Oikawa when the man is smiling at him like that.

 “And what are you doing here, Kuro-chan?” Oikawa continues to ask, taking a step closer to Tetsurou, who, in turn, takes a step back to preserve their distance. Something makes him fear Oikawa’s presence. It feels so cold and weak, as if the man is a ghost. Tetsurou decides that he should have some more fate into his feelings from now on, rather than his logic and healthy mind. “Are you looking for someone too?! We can look together then?”

 Oikawa’s sing-song voice makes Tetsurou flinch and he doesn’t think twice before declining the offer. He feels as if his time is running out and that he should finally go and look for Koutarou and Keiji. The faster he finds them, the quicker he could go back to Kenma. Who knew what was going on back in the lobby now, while he was standing and having a calm conversation with a person who almost seems like a _ghost_.

 “I’m looking for someone,” he admits, “But I doubt we’re headed in the same direction. Maybe…Maybe we and regroup in the lobby later when…When you find your Iwa-chan?”

 Oikawa seems fond of the idea and quickly nods, before his smile once again turns into a concerned frown.

 “I would be careful if I were you.” He softly says, walking closer to Tetsurou, who can’t find the strength to move this time. “I guess you’re going to look by the pool? I didn’t go there. It gives out pretty chilly vibes…I don’t really like it there. Be careful, Kuro-chan, and hurry up so we can meet at the lobby, okay?”

 Tetsurou nods and feels Oikawa walk past him, chills quickly taking over his body. He realizes then that the person who had introduced him self as Oikawa Tooru isn’t just a random person he had met a second ago. It would be a miracle if he was even a person, a human like him. There are so many things a man as observant as Tetsurou could find wrong in Oikawa. The way he looks paler than a healthy person should be. The way his steps make absolutely no sound as he walks. There is definitely something wrong in him being so lightly dressed despite the coldness of the halls. But there’s no way that could possibly bother him, because Tetsurou quickly realizes that he’s the very sores of the chilling cold taking over their surroundings.

 “I hope you find who ever you’re looking for.” Oikawa Tooru says as he passes him. Tetsurou is almost sure he can hear a sad smile in his words and quickly understands that there’s something Oikawa knows that he doesn’t. “I hope I can see my Iwa-chan too…I’m getting so worried…”

 Oikawa’s voice becomes softer and softer until Tetsurou feels as if he had imagined his entire presence. Just as he is about to turn and question the mysterious person however, he finds out he is alone in the hall.

 There’s not a single thing that proves he had ever had the company of Oikawa Tooru. The same Oikawa Tooru, whose name he’s certain he had heard before, but can’t be sure where from and why.

 Tetsurou’s all alone again. The cold in the hall is replaced by a heavy feeling of sorrow and emptiness. The neutral smell which had been brought with the presence of Oikawa, much like the coldness, is replaced by a disgusting stench. It is a smell which makes his stomach turn and wrench and Tetsurou could barely hold him self from throwing up the little contents in his stomach.

 Instead of staying in the hall, he forces his legs to move and almost runs towards the changing rooms before the large room of the equally large pool. Something in Oikawa’s words makes him worry, makes him feel as if he had made the greatest mistake in his life by spending his little time in the hall with him.

 The feeling only grows as he walks through the threshold of the changing rooms and quickly runs towards the door opposite to the one he had walked through. It’s a feeling of emptiness and loneliness. It scares him so much, he could barely believe it. Tetsurou had never been so scared or sad in his life. The worst part was that he didn’t know why he was feeling all of this. So many strong emotions falling over him as if they had actual weight, strong enough to crush him.

 Tetsurou decided that he never wanted to feel as miserable as he did in that moment. Never wanted to feel any of what he did now, as he was forced face to face with the door leading towards the pool. His heart thumped loudly in his chest and he had to bite his lip to ground him self before slowly reaching up to the door handle.

 Taking a deep breath, he pushed down the handle and the door slowly opened. A gentle push was all it took to make it open wide, revealing the sight of blue hues and gentle light to Tetsurou. But that wasn’t the only thing which came into his view.

 Tetsurou’s narrowed eyes widened and he almost raised a hand to hold onto the doorframe for support, as his knees bended dangerously beneath him. He had to be mistaken. That in the water wasn’t a body. And even if it was, that jacket didn’t belong to Koutarou. The first thought which passed through his mind was that that was Iwa-chan, that had to be Oikawa’s Iwa-chan, but there was no way he could mistake the wild strands of black and silvery hair floating above the surface of the crystal water, illuminated by the bluish lights.

 Tetsurou took a sharp intake of breath, before willing him self to move yet again. This time he almost fell in the cold water as he ran down the side of the pool, his shoes almost slipping over the wet side.

 “Bokuto!” he yelled out, voice filled with grief and every single emotion he had felt downing on his mere seconds ago, so many that he could barely convey them into words and actually name them. 

 Tetsurou fell on his knees on the side of the pool and reached out to grab the back of Koutarou’s jacket, soaked with water but visible over its surface. His breathing escalated until he could barely breathe, puffs of hot air escaping his lips as he tried to get his best friend’s, his past lover’s, body out of the cold water. With the help of the water, he managed to pull Koutarou’s body closer to the edge of the pool. Not minding if he got him self wet, Tetsurou tried to lift him above the edge and over it. His breaths turned into quiet sobs as he wrapped his arms around Koutarou’s chest and pulled him over the wall of the pool with all the force he could manage, despite feeling every part of his body go weak.

 Koutarou’s body fell on the tiled floor beside the pool like a heavy sack of flour and Tetsurou tried to breathe in deeply as he stood above him. He quickly grabbed his wet wrist, trying desperately to find signs of a pulse, despite knowing there would be nothing left of a heartbeat. He leaned down and laid his head over Koutarou’s broad chest, trying to hear the softest of beats, but there was nothing again. There couldn’t be anything and there would never be.

 Tetsurou’s breathe stuttered, as he looked up at Koutarou’s white, emotionless face. Hot tears gathered in his eyes as he stared into Koutarou’s lifeless ones and he slowly reached up to close them gently, with shivering and shaking fingers. His fingers lingered over Koutarou’s face and swept over by the painful emotions filling his chest, Tetsurou leaned foreword to kiss his cold forehead, like he had done so many times in the past, when both had fooled around in their bed in the darkest of nights, laughs and groans muffled by the heavy rain and loud thunder outside of their window.

 “Kou…” Tetsurou found the strength to whisper, chest heaving painfully. “What happened to you, Kou?...Damn it!”

 Raising his fist, Tetsurou hit the tiled floor beside the pool, jaw tightening painfully and teeth clenching just as much. He repeated the motion again and again, until his fist began to bleed over the wet tile, spitting profanities and curses until the only sound he could hear was his voice ringing in the tiled room. The grief and emptiness seeped away from his heart, replaced quickly by anger and desire for revenge. Strong and burning in his chest where it had no place. Tetsurou had never felt bigger hate than the one he felt towards whatever had taken his best friend’s, his lover’s, his best bro forever’s life.

 As his voice became once again quiet and his hand hurt far too much to continue hitting the wet tiles of the pool’s side, Tetsurou grabbed Koutarou’s soaked jacket and buried his face in the crock of his neck. He felt his own clothes getting wet, but that didn’t matter.

 All that mattered was that he couldn’t feel the blood coursing beneath Koutarou’s skin like he had felt it so many times when he had kissed it. He couldn’t feel the warmth of his body and would never feel it. He would never hear his voice and would never play volleyball with him. He would never see his goofy grin and would never feel his bone crushing hugs.

 Because Koutarou was gone, just like Mika and Yukie. Just like Oikawa Tooru and his Iwa-chan.

 And it was all Tetsurou’s fault for not acting sooner.

\---

A loud, rattling sound shattered the edgy silence between them and Suguru jumped on his feet, hand shooting up to grasp Kenma’s shoulder and preventing him from doing the same. He cautiously looked around the empty lobby, eyes quickly finding the glass doors leading out to the parking lot. He could barely see anything but darkness, but there definitely wasn’t anything out yet. The loud noise had come from inside the hotel. And whatever had made it was inside with them.

 “Kuro…” Kenma weakly muttered, as Suguru pushed him down onto the leather couch.

 “You stay here.” He softly commanded, “I’ll see what’s happening.”

 “Kuro said to stay here.”

 “ _Kuro_ isn’t here.” Suguru replays, a bit too harshly, despite not being aware of it, and looks at Kenma with narrowed eyes. “And until he comes back, I’m in charge. Do what I say and stay put.”

 Kenma actually frowns up at him, blinking slowly.

 “And why should I listen to you?” he asks, not enjoying the idea of being bossed around by anyone, be it for his own good.

 Suguru takes a moment to study him before replaying:

 “Because if you don’t and end up getting hurt because of me, your boyfriend will kill me later. If he ends up coming back at all. If not, you were left in my hands and I don’t plan on letting you die while I can do something about it.”

 Kenma once again blinks up at Suguru. He had never heard him talk in such a way about someone else than himself. It felt as if he was facing a completely different person. A person who _cared_ and who wouldn’t allow more death while he could prevent it.

 “But if you want to go to _Kuro_ , then I won’t stop you.” Suguru continued with fake nonchalance and a light, forced shrug. “You’ll be taking your own risk.”

 “I’ll stay with you…” Kenma quietly says and Suguru nods, before turning to see where the noise had came from. It would be suicidal to start a fight with something out of this world unarmed, but it wasn’t like he had anything more to lose than his life.

 “Where are you going?” Kenma asks quickly, as Suguru ventures farther away from the couch he’s sitting on. “What are you going to do?”

 “Just stay there. I’ll be close.”

 Another sound emerges from the silence and with its help, Suguru can deduce where the first one had came from. To the left of the few couches gathered in the lobby there is a door, perhaps a closet of some sorts. It isn’t far from the couch where Kenma is sitting and Suguru figures that if he found him self in trouble, Kenma could react quickly enough to help him.

 There is another shallow thud behind the door and Suguru takes it as a sign to get going and see what’s going on behind it.

 For a moment his steps are the only thing which could be heard in the lobby. The atmosphere is strained and the air is heavy. Suguru walks steadily towards the door, heart thumping loudly in his chest. He wonders why he’s doing this. What he’ll win after he opens the door and finds either nothing or something behind it. And if he does find something, what will that something be? Nothing pretty, he decides. But still he doesn’t turn back and continues to walk towards the door, as if he was one of the characters in the cheap horror movies, who always get killed in the end due to their own stupidity. Suguru decides that if he’s meant to die that night, this is how it’ll happen. Eaten or torn to pieces by the thing hiding behind the door.

 And even so he doesn’t turn back and that is the thing which makes him so frustrated.

 Overlooking the situation, Suguru reaches the following conclusion. If something’s waiting for him behind the door, he’ll eventually manage to defend him self until Kenma decides to help. He isn’t especially strong and doesn’t have much experience with hand to hand combat, but he is certain that if he ends up in a life threatening situation, he would be able to protect him self. He doesn’t want to relay on Kenma much, but it had been more than twenty minutes ever since Tetsurou left, so he was expecting him to come back soon. It wasn’t like Suguru was alone. With those thoughts in mind he finally reached the door and found enough strength to lift a hand towards its handle.

 He hesitated when his fingers wrapped around the cold metal of the door handle, trembling only slightly, as his mind raced and created numerous scenarios, every last gorier and scarier than the one before. And it all ended with him getting hurt. But in the end, Suguru really had nothing to lose. There was nothing stopping him from this little suicidal mission he had set him self. Overcoming the carnal fear of the unknown burning deep inside of him, Suguru licked his lips and pushed down on the handle, pushing the door opened when it gave easily under his hand.

 For a second he closed his eyes and took a step back, ready to run if anything jumped out of the darkness, but nothing did. When Suguru slowly opened his eyes again, he was met with ordinary darkness, in which he could faintly make out the contours of a few shelves and boxes. He allowed him self a soft sigh of relief, before slowly stepping over the threshold and walking inside the room.

 The light from the lobby wasn’t strong enough for Suguru to see deeply into the room therefore he searched for a light switch. Luckily for him, he didn’t have to search long. The dusty switch was right beside the door frame and when Suguru flipped it downward, the only light in the cold room flickered on, illuminating the fairly large space.

 Just as Suguru had thought at first, the room was a storage for bed sheets and covers, which were folded and stacked on the high shelves on both sides of the door. Walking further into the bare room, Suguru noticed another door to his left. It was widely opened, but the lights inside were out and he couldn’t see anything. The loud thuds and crashes which had startled him and Kenma had to have come from there. Suguru however wasn’t as adventurous as to venture further into the storage.

 He was just about to turn towards the door and yell out to Kenma that everything was alright and that he could rest assure, when the door behind him closed sharply with a loud slamming sound, making the light bulb above Suguru shatter and casting the room into darkness again. Suguru’s hands shot up to cover his head from the falling pieces of glass, as he found him self completely disorientated. He blinked furiously, trying to get used to the darkness around him quicker. He could hear Kenma calling out his name from outside, steps running up to the door.

 While Kenma tried to open the door from outside, calling out to Suguru, who was trying to find his way through the darkness and towards the door, something behind him fell and shattered loudly. Startled, Suguru turned around, only to come face to face with something a lot darker than the usual darkness around him. The creature moved as fast as lightning and before Suguru could even think of raising his hand to try and protect him self, something sharp and cold pierced the flesh of his stomach.

 The burning pain shot through every fiber of Suguru’s body and he opened his mouth to yell, but no noise came out of him. Whatever had stabbed him snarled and growled above him, as Suguru coughed, warm liquid escaping his mouth and falling onto the concrete bellow his feet.

 Suguru again heard Kenma yell his name from outside the door. The handle trembled furiously as he tried to open the door, but it was pointless. Loosing his balance, Suguru fell backwards, just as another rattling sound filled the storage room. Whatever was inside it with him, it had probably fled, knocking down one of the metal shelves with towels and sheets down.

 The burning pain in his stomach spread up to his ribs and down to his thighs. More pain emerged from the back of his head, where he had hit it against the floor when he fell. His breathing sped up and Suguru thought that it wouldn’t be the deep wound in his stomach that would kill him, but the shortage of breath cause by his own striking fear. His blood pressure rose and he could almost hear the blood pumping in his veins. There was nothing more scary than being thrown in complete darkness, while your whole body burned with pain, and there was nothing Suguru could do to help him self, instead of to lay on the floor in a pool of his own blood, while he desperately coughed and tried to breathe.

 “Daishou-san!” Kenma yelled from outside of the storage, voice filled with panic, hitting furiously against the wooden door. “Daishou-san, are you okay?! Daishou-san!”

 While Suguru wanted to answer, wanted to crawl and try to open the door himself, wanted to fight for his life, there was nothing he could do, but wait for the pain to end. He grit his teeth and raised a hand to touch the wound in his stomach, but instead of finding a gaping hole, his trembling fingers grazed against something solid. The handle of a knife, Suguru thought, but what kind of a creature would need a knife to stab him? Unless the thing with him wasn’t something, but _someone_?

 Suguru felt his vision fading. Despite not being able to see much in the darkness, he was sure he was slowly falling unconscious due to the shock. He felt as if he was already dying. Kenma’s voice began to sound a lot more distant than it had a few seconds ago.

 Just as he was about to slip away into the land of either death or unconsciousness, Suguru saw the lights in the room to the right of the storage flicker on. He heard someone’s voice calling out to him, but it wasn’t Kenma’s. Shoes came into his smudged and fading sight. Someone was walking up to him, calling out to him, but Suguru could only groan in response, his blood gurgling in his throat.

 He knew nothing good could follow from him sticking his nose into business he didn’t understand. He should have stayed with Kenma, no matter what they heard or saw. The only thing which could follow now was for both of them to die and Tetsurou wouldn’t even know. But maybe the prospect of death wasn’t as scary now. It seemed nice even, once the pain became almost noticeable and his vision disappeared along with his hearing. The only thing left for Suguru to enjoy in his final moments was the sound of his own labored breathing before that disappeared as well.

 Perhaps it was a great lie that when you die, you get to see your whole life as if on tape. If it was possible, Suguru would really want to see Mika again, in those final moments. But he didn’t, therefore that might have been a simple lie, told for those who feared death.

 Suguru didn’t fear death anymore, that was for sure. He even welcomed it now…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...What did you think of this waterfall of tears?! I actually made my self cry with some scenes...So before I say anything else, I'm happy I got to write Daishou in a different light! I keep readying fics in which he's some cruel villain and while I know he's so darn fitted for that character (my first time writing him was as such) I wanted to show him as a person who can adapt to any situation, even if it means changing his character. I mean (speaking HQ wise, not this fic wise), if he has to act all angel like and goody-goody in front of a referee to assure his victory and that of his team, then he'll do it! I mean, yeah, it's not very sportsmanish of him and it looks terrible, but it isn't - it means a chance to compete on the nationals and nothing is more important than that. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I approve of Daishou and his adaptive character and find it especially easy to write, since I kind of relate to it.  
>  And yes, I know I nag a lot about this, but I can go on for ages if you want to listen!  
>  Aside from finally writing Daishou as a good guy (which I said I would do as a compensation for him, because seriously he aint' that bad and evil!), I'm happy to finally write this fic again, I hope you like it, the next chapter will have a lot of movement and more drama, and OMG, I just love torturing these kids and you x3.  
>  Please COMMENT! I need feedback desperately.


	7. 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I would work fast to finish this by the end of the month!!! Here! Have some more drama and more feels!!!! I had a talk with my friend yesterday and I told her how writing fanfiction for a fandom and choosing which characters I want to put in a certain AU feels a lot like choosing actors for a movie. I came to the conclusion that if I had to work with Akaashi as my main character in a horror movie, I would have to pay him tons of money as a compensation for the mental scars I leave him with!  
> But what can I say, I love torturing him, not to mention that I'm thinking of another horror fic with him as THE main character >:) I really wouldn't have enough money to pay for his mental treatment...

“Daishou-san!” Keiji yells out, collapsing on the floor beside Suguru. The lights in the room behind him flicker and buzz softly, but the light they provide is only minimal, enough for him to catch a glimpse of the slowly spreading pool of blood beneath Suguru’s limp body.

 Another shout of Suguru’s name followed from outside of the door and Keiji recognized Kenma’s worried voice. The door handle rattled and Keiji decided that Kenma was furiously trying to get in, but to no avail. He looked back at Suguru, who seemed to have fallen unconscious, and his blood ran cold. A red stain of blood was slowly forming over Suguru’s stomach, where a knife had been stabbed in nearly to the hilt. Suguru was already loosing blood, if Keiji took out the knife, it would probably be like a fountain of red and warm liquid spilling out of his stomach.

 The mere thought made him shudder in disgust.

 “Daishou-san!” Kenma continued to call from outside, hitting against the door, “Are you okay?! Daishou-san, answer me! What’s going on in there!?”

 “Daishou-san’s badly injured, Kozume-kun!” Keiji found him self yelling in replay.

 Outside of the door, Kenma halted every movement of his as he heard his voice.

 “Akaashi?” he called out in confusion, before once again resuming his tries to open the stubborn door, “What’s going on in there?! What happened to Daishou-san?! Is he okay?!”

 Keiji looked back at Suguru. He was anything but okay, that was for sure, but there was nothing he could do in the moment. Keiji hesitated, but in the end stood up from his spot on the floor and quickly walked to the door. He kicked it once, punched it twice in frustration, but there was no movement. Gritting his teeth, he took a step back and yelled out to Kenma:

 “Kozume, move away from the door! Don’t ask questions, just do it!”

 “What are you going to do?!” Kenma hurriedly asked, despite what he had been told, but Keiji could overhear his soft steps from over the door and figured he had indeed stepped away from it.

 “Just don’t move from where you are now!” he continued, mentally bracing him self for what he was about to do. A look back at Suguru’s body gave him a boost of strength. He wasn’t about to let him die such a pointless death, not while he could actually do something about it.

 Turning back towards the door, Keiji took a deep breath and ran straight at it. In the last second he turned his body to the side, so his shoulder could collide with the wood, the force alone enough to make Keiji wince. He doubted that his body was heavy enough for his idea to work, but the door did give under the impact and before Keiji knew it, he was falling foreword with it.

 He landed on his knees and hands, cursing quietly. He wanted to curse a lot louder, but a look up at Kenma’s paled face and his wide, fearful eyes made him rethink. Cursing wouldn’t do anything to help them either. It would only put more pressure and that was something neither needed.

 When Kenma’s eyes fell on Suguru, the knife sticking out of his stomach, the handle of which was the only thing visible, and the steadily growing pool of blood beneath him, the little color still on his face vanished, making him look like a blank sheet of paper. His eyes widened and Keiji swore he would fall on the tiled floor unconscious, just like Suguru. But he didn’t. He was obviously terrified and shocked to the point of stiffness, but he held his nerves well enough to stay with him. There probably were black dots dancing around his vision, and perhaps he tried to hold in the desire to throw up whatever food was left in his stomach, but he didn’t. Keiji was thankful that he managed so well. He didn’t know what he would do if he had to care for both him and the slowly dying Suguru.

 When Keiji got back up on his quivering feet, he turned around and quickly returned to Suguru’s side. He was still unconscious and Keiji knew he had to do something fast if he didn’t want to lose him. He took Suguru’s cold wrist in his hand and searched for his pulse, finding just the barest traces of it. Taking in a deep breath, Keiji looked up at Kenma, who had managed to walk to the door and now looked at him with horror and confusion.

 “Is he…dead?” he asked in a small voice and Keiji quickly shook his head.

 “Not yet, but he might not have much time.” He explained, looking around the closet. He could see towels and sheets, bottles of liquid soap and shampoos, packets of hard soap and bath bombs, but not a first aid kit. He couldn’t risk taking out the knife out when it was the only thing keeping Suguru from dying of blood loss. The only thing he could do was use one of the white bed sheets to drag him into the lobby where he could again look for a first aid kit behind the reception.

 Standing back up, Keiji turned towards the still standing shelf to his right. The other had fallen on the floor, sheets and towels and packets of soap scattering over it.

 “I need your help.” He told Kenma, picking up one of the bed sheets, big enough to fit under Suguru’s body so they could use it as a make shift stretcher. “We have to get Daishou-san into the lobby where there’s more light. Help me get him on the bed sheet and pull him there.”

 “But…But what about the knife?” Kenma asked, voice almost cracking. “Won’t he bleed out?”

 “We won’t remove the knife yet.” Keiji informed him, setting the white sheet on the ground beside Suguru, where he knew it wouldn’t be dirtied by the spreading pool of blood. “Please don’t ask questions and come and help me. We don’t have much time.”

 As disgusted as Kenma seemed by the blood and the prospect of dragging Suguru’s unconscious body out of the storage room, he seemed to get a good grasp of the situation. He wasn’t stupid and knew what needed to be done and that they had little to no time to do it. All he could do was help, despite his insecurities and fear. 

 “I’ll grab his legs, you lift his upper body and we’ll lift him on the sheet.” Keiji explained when Kenma took a few uncertain steps towards him and Suguru. “Can you do that?”

 Not trusting his voice, Kenma quickly nodded and knelt down beside Suguru’s head. Keiji knelt down between his feet and while he wrapped his arms under his knees, Kenma gently wrapped his shaking arms around Suguru’s chest.

 They weren’t expecting him to be light, but not as heavy as he turned out to be. It almost felt as if they were trying to lift a bag of rocks. It took them a lot of rearranging and grunting, but in the end they managed to get Suguru’s limp body on the sheet, his blood slowly soaking the white cotton beneath him.

 Moving his body and making the knife’s blade move around his insides through the somewhat rough treatment must have triggered Suguru’s consciousness. When Keiji and Kenma knelt down again to grab the edges of the sheet and drag him out of the storage, his eyes shot opened. A pained groan left him when Keiji and Kenma tried to pull his body with the help of the sheet and the two stopped their movement.

 “Hang in there, Daishou-san.” Keiji quickly said, trying to sound reassuring and strong. He hoped he had done a good job, if not, they had little chances of making it out _sane_ , if they lived long enough to see the sun.

 Suguru coughed harshly and let out a strained yell of pain. Blood ran down his chin and dirtied the color of his shirt, as he threw his head back, gritting his teeth against the burning pain spreading over him.

 “It hurts…” he wheezed, out of breath. “It _fucking hurts_!”         

 “I know, I know…” Keiji repeated breathily, as he motioned for Kenma to try and tug at the sheet from his end again. “Just bear it, it’ll be over soon.”

 With a lot of effort and pained yelling and cursing from Suguru’s side, Kenma and Keiji finally managed to drag him out of the dark storage room, leaving a trail of blood behind on the surface of the tiles. It looked almost as if the two had committed a murder inside, but the truth was a lot harder to comprehend.

 “I’ll go search for a first aid kit,” Keiji said once they were much or less in the middle of the lobby, looking up at Kenma, “You go back to the storage and take all the sheets and towels you can carry.”

 Kenma hurriedly nods and stands up, but just as he makes a motion towards the storage they had came out of a second ago, both him and Keiji hear the faintest sound of footsteps coming from the hall beside the reception. The same hall Keiji had walked down with Koutarou not long ago, but a hall which he doesn’t remember coming out of later. To be honest, Keiji’s memory is like a haze. He doesn’t remember a lot after leaving Koutarou by the pool. What he does remember however is finding Suguru in the storage and that is a lot clearer than anything else.

 When he and Kenma look towards the hall, expecting some creature of darkness to emerge from it and finish them off, adding to the bloodbath already made, they see Tetsurou, walking towards him slowly, with dragged out steps. He stares down at the tiles, his face is visibly pale and his hands shake over his hips. Keiji slowly stands up, looking Tetsurou over with curiosity and concern. Despite expecting Kenma to run up to him, the fake blond doesn’t. He does take a step towards Tetsurou, but doesn’t walk up to him, doesn’t ask what’s wrong and where he had been. Keiji must have missed their separation, along with a lot of other things, but his head hurts when he tries to settle his barely existing memories.

 “Kuroo-san?” he cautiously asks, making the man look up at him. Keiji feels a tremor run through his body as Tetsurou’s cold gaze pierces him, right before looking away in what could only be quilt and shame. Keiji’s mind quickly goes to the worst, creating all kinds of possible scenarios, which could cause Tetsurou to look so ruined. He doesn’t have the strength to believe any of them is possible, doesn’t have the strength to accept any of them.

 “Kuro, what happened?” Kenma asks this time, but Tetsurou doesn’t have the strength to look at him. “Are you okay? Is everything…”

 “No.” is the shallow replay Tetsurou manages to give, still not daring to look at them. “Nothing’s okay.”

 Completely forgetting about Suguru and the treatment he desperately needs, Keiji takes another step towards Tetsurou, brows furrowing in concern.

 “What do you mean by that?” he asks frowning, “What happened? Where were you? Did you go to look for Bokuto-san? He told me to come and get you, but I wasn’t expecting you to be still here. Where is he? He’s not with you…Is he still at the pool?” Keiji takes another steps towards Tetsurou, then another, mind now settled in going to get Koutarou before he follows the same fate as Suguru. “We have to get him, he can be in big trouble now. You stay here with…”

 A hand shoots up to stop him and Keiji does, only a step away from Tetsurou.

 Taking a deep breath, Tetsurou looks up at Keiji finally, laying a hand over his thin shoulder as a gesture of solitude. It doesn’t help Keiji at all however, and he can’t help but tense, as he looks at Tetsurou.

 “What happened?...” he quietly asks again, fearing the answer.

 Tetsurou only shakes his head and takes a deep breath before speaking.

 “Bo…Isn’t coming back.” He says finally, struggling with the words as he does. The only thing Keiji could do is blink in confusion, not fully understanding him.

 “Well…He won’t, if we don’t look for him.” he says with a soft shake of his head. “Move away, Kuroo-san. The quicker I find Bokuto-san, the quicker I can tend to Daishou-san’s wound. He’s loosing blood quickly and wasting time like this won’t help…”

 Keiji tries to walk past Tetsurou, tries to head down the darkened hall, but Tetsurou doesn’t let him. He takes a hold of his shoulders and pushes him back, before wrapping his arms around him into a too tight, too emotional embrace. It makes Keiji shudder, makes him want to push him away and run down the hall, because now he feels the reality he had been trying to push away down on him.

 “Kuroo-san, let me go!” he insisted, struggling against the sudden embrace, “I have to go and get Bokuto-san before Daishou-san dies! Don’t you understand?! Just let me go so we can finish this faster and just…”

 “I’m telling you, Bo isn’t coming back!” Tetsurou told him again, voice growing louder and making Keiji flinch. Tetsurou looked at him again, straight in the eye, his face full with too much emotion to comprehend at once. “He’s _gone_! He…He’s…”

 Tetsurou couldn’t finish his sentence. Couldn’t find the strength to do so.

 His hold on Keiji tightened, fingers digging into the back of his jacket as he held him tight. And Keiji felt as if he was burning. He wanted Tetsurou to let him go, to leave him alone and to take back his words. How could he joke with something like that in front of Keiji? Had his humor gotten so sick? Was Koutarou watching and barely holding his laughter from somewhere? This had to be the case. It _had_ to be. Keiji _needed_ it to be.

 He clutched the front of Tetsurou’s jacket, finding it oddly wet, droplets of water rolling down his palms and into his sleeves. He tried to push him away, but Tetsurou held him tightly. He had a reason to. If Keiji got away now, the chances of finding him dead somewhere in the hotel would increase.

 “Let go of me!” Keiji kept yelling, his voice ringing in the lobby and deep into the hotel as he struggled to get away from Tetsurou. He grit his teeth in frustration, fingers grabbing over Tetsurou’s wet jacket, trying to push him away in vain. “I’ll kill you if you’re joking! Bokuto-san can come out now, alright! You got me! You can stop joking now!”

 “Akaashi stop.” Tetsurou quietly said, “Just stop.”

 “No way…No way, there’s no way…”

 Bracing him self against Tetsurou, Keiji finally gave in and returned his embrace. Both had as if forgotten Kenma’s presence behind them and Suguru who was slowly dying in a puddle of his own blood. Time had stopped for both, caged in the golden cage of their own sorrow.

 However, neither cried. Simply held them selves close, grounding them selves.

 After a moment, Keiji let go of Tetsurou’s jacket and stepped away from him. The later didn’t make any motion to hold him this time. He knew Keiji had finally settled down, or at least managed to look like it. The worst part about comforting Keiji was that he pulled off a look as if he didn’t need the comfort to begin with, and his look wasn’t the only problem – he managed to look completely unaffected and actually acted as if he was in the deepest denial imaginable. The mere fact that Tetsurou knew he wasn’t made him frustrated. Because he knew that Keiji would act as if he didn’t need the help he subconsciously craved for. And Tetsurou wouldn’t be able to offer him anything while he refused to take it.

 With an expression resembling carelessness, Keiji turned around and quickly walked behind the reception. He knelt down and searched beneath the desk, after which he stood back up and headed towards the door behind him, from which the receptionist Nametsu had taken an expensive bottle of Merlot and a bottle of water the night before. There was no way the reception didn’t have a first aid kit, the thing Keiji needed most right now.

 “What are you doing?” Tetsurou asked him, as Keiji disappeared behind the door and into yet another storage, this one smaller but a lot more filled than the one they were in.

 “Daishou-san’s injured.” Keiji replayed quickly, rummaging through the supplies in the storage for anything which could serve as a disinfectant. “He’s dying. We really don’t have any time to spare.”

 The situation only now seemed to down on Tetsurou, as he looked with wide eyes towards the floor where Suguru lay, seemingly unconscious again. Beside him Kenma flinched and shuddered, nervously stepping from one foot to the other, completely lost in the pressure of the situation.

 “What happened with him?” Tetsurou asked, quickly walking up to Kenma, but kneeling beside Suguru to better inspect the wound in his stomach and the knife still buried deep in it. “What the hell happened?”

 He looked up at Kenma, who flinched again, but Tetsurou hadn’t meant to look intimidating. If anything he looked scared and confused, which was something so out of character for him. Then again, Kenma’s nerves must have been as thin as strings now and who knew when they would break.

 Tetsurou decided to keep his voice in check as much as his look.

 “I found him there.” Keiji answered for Kenma, stepping out of the storage with a bag of cotton and a bottle of rubbing alcohol in hand. “There had to be a fight in the closet, I don’t know with who or what, but when I went there I found Daishou-san already like this.”

 “There was a noise…” Kenma muttered suddenly, “Behind the door…Daishou-san went to look and…And the door just shut closed and…”

 “I get it.” Tetsurou gently said, frowning as he inspected the slowly spreading blood staid on the tiled floor. “I really get it.”

 “I need towels and sheets.” Keiji said, kneeling down beside Suguru when he reached him. “We have to get the knife out eventually, but the bleeding will increase when we do. That’s why we’ll have to stop it until…Until help comes.” He looked up at Tetsurou pleadingly, “Go and get me as many towels or sheets as you can carry from that storage over there, Kuroo-san. I know you don’t like Daishou-san much, but…”

 “Don’t even say it!” Tetsurou exclaimed, standing up on his feet again and sending Keiji a look. “My relationship with Daishou isn’t nearly as bad as letting the bastard bleed to death, alright?”

 “I understand.” Keiji coolly says, looking up at Tetsurou, “Then help me.”

 With a short nod, Tetsurou walked around Suguru’s body and ran towards the storage room. In the mean time, Keiji again looked at Suguru, trying to think of a way to help him without making the situation worse. That seemed like a pointless task. If Suguru lived through the night, he would most definitely have lost too much blood to be safe of further disabilities. Right now Keiji wasn’t sure if they wouldn’t cause him more harm by trying to save him. But he wasn’t fond of watching someone die while he could actually do something.

 Licking his dry lips, Keiji reached up to gently slap Suguru’s pale cheek. For the time being, getting a reaction out of him seemed crucial. It would be wrong to waste effort to save a corpse.

 “Wake up, Daishou-san.” He Keiji frowned when he couldn’t get an immediate reaction out of Suguru, but doubled his efforts to make him wake up. Having the knife taken out of his stomach would no doubt hurt enough to make him pass out again, but Keiji wanted to see that he was alive and could still feel the pain. It would be bad if he couldn’t. “Please, wake up!”

 He heard Tetsurou come back to them just as Suguru began to come to. Keiji took one of the white sheets Tetsurou offered, eyeing the pile of white towels and sheets he left on the floor beside him, before ripping the thin material in two.

 The sound seemed to have caught Suguru’s attention. His breathing was far from stable and Keiji could hear the feint gurgling of blood in his throat. He knew he was about to hurt him more than help him and that made his heart clench. Then again, what else was there to do?

 “Is it over yet?...” Suguru wheezed, looking at Keiji as he laid the two pieces of the sheet around the wound in his stomach.

 “Just a bit more.” Keiji said, trying to sound as comforting as the situation allowed him. “I want you to stay awake for this. Yell all you want, but try to stay with us, okay?”

 “What are you gonna do?” Tetsurou asked from beside him, as Keiji took a few white towels and folded them in squares, as much as the material allowed.

 “I have to take out the knife.” he gave the few folded towels to Tetsurou, motioning for him to come closer to where he stood kneeling over Suguru. “There will be a lot of blood when I take it out, Kuroo-san, that’s why the second I do, I want you to cover the wound with the towels and press down. Even if Daishou-san tells you it hurts, keep pressing, alright?”

 Keiji looked down at Suguru, who seemed ready to pass out again in the mere thought of his blood splattering against the white tiles and the pain which he would soon feel, before looking up at Kenma. He seemed just as pale as Suguru, so Keiji was pleasantly surprised to find him still standing and not lying beside him unconscious.

 “Kozume, can you help?” he asked, bringing Kenma’s attention to him self.

 Kenma eyed him with an anxious expression, but reluctantly nods and slowly kneels down on Suguru’s other side.

 “How?” he shallowly asks and Keiji’s quick to answer.

 “I want you to help me tie a sheet over Daishou-san’s middle when the knife is out, so it can keep the towels over the wound.” He explains, taking another sheet from the pile beside Tetsurou and ripping it apart, the loud, sudden noise echoing around them. “But we’ll do this a bit later, for now…I actually wanted you to make sure Daishou-san’s still breathing. Keep him awake. You don’t want to look, do you Daishou-san?”

 Suguru weakly shook his head.

 “I’ll pass…” he wheezed again, the simple act of speaking making the pain burn brighter. “Just do it already…”

 “Stop acting like a wimp and get a grip.” Tetsurou softly said, his words holding none of the normal harshness with which he treated Suguru. Despite everything, he wasn’t a person who could hate to the point of letting someone else die in front of him. Tat meant Suguru as well. “It won’t be like a mosquito bite, but it’ll be over before you know it.”

 “Kuroo-san, before I do this, wet the towels with the rubbing alcohol there.” Keiji said, laying out another torn sheet around the handle of the knife, watching as the blood began to soak through it. “Hurry up, we can’t waste anymore time.”

 With another short nod, Tetsurou followed the command, covering the folded towels with a generous amount of the clear antiseptic. While he did, Keiji took a deep breath and took off his jacket, rolling the sleeves of his shirt to the elbow after. He summoned all the strength he could before looking at Suguru again.

 “Just don’t breathe for a moment,” he softly instructed, “It’ll be over before you know it, I promise.”

 “I don’t really trust you.” Was Suguru’s breathy replay, but Keiji paid him no further attention.

 Keiji wrapped his shaking fingers around the knife handle and looked at Tetsurou, who watched him in anticipation.

 “You cover the wound on three.” He said, before again looking at his shivering hands over the knife handle. “ _One_.”

 His grip on the knife tightened and before even thinking of counting to three, Keiji pulled it up in one quick movement, throwing it away quickly after. A pained yell escaped Suguru’s lips, followed by trails of hot blood. There was a second of surprise, but after it Tetsurou was quick to react and follow Keiji’s earlier order. He leaned down and pressed the wet towels over the gaping wound on Suguru’s stomach and pressed down until his fingers hurt and Suguru was arching up. His suffering was evident. He was wheezing and yelling, fingers gripping over the stained sheet under him in desperation.

 “You lied!” he yelled through his pain, while Keiji threw one end of the sheet he had torn a bit ago over him to Kenma, who seemed frozen stiff. “You didn’t count to three! You fucking lied!”

 “Kuroo-san, try and lift him a bit so we can get the sheet under him.” Keiji instructed, again not listening to Suguru as he wailed, “Kozume, get ready to tie the sheet. Tie it tightly.”

 Tetsurou let go of the towels he kept pressing to the opened wound and grabbed Suguru’s middle, trying to lift him enough so Keiji could move the end of the torn sheet under him and towards Kenma. That proved a bit hard with Suguru’s trashing and kicking, but when they managed to do as Keiji had said, Kenma was quick to tie the end of the sheet tightly, despite his furiously shaking fingers.

 When Suguru got quieter after a second, Keiji was almost ready to think he had again fallen unconscious due to the pain, but a quick look at him showed that he was trying desperately to keep the noises of pain to him self. He was breathing harder than before, cold sweat was gathering over his forehead and sliding down his temples and the bridge of his nose. One of Suguru’s hands was clenched in a tight fist against the bloody sheet under him, while the other held a painful grasp on Kenma’s thin wrist. Surprisingly for Keiji, Kenma didn’t seem to complain. On the contrary, once he had tied the sheet as tightly as he could manage without letting go of the ends, his other hand automatically covered Suguru’s shaking fingers on his reddening wrist.

 “It’s over now, Daishou-san,” Keiji assured, looking back at Suguru, “Don’t be afraid to breath, just stay with us.”

 “I wanna _die_ …” Suguru wheezed, instead of giving an actual replay, his voice strained and hoarse from all the yelling, “It _hurts_ so freakin’ much!...Just let me die…Take that knife and stab somewhere where it won’t hurt as much and just _kill me already_!”

 “No one’s going to do that, Daishou.” Tetsurou muttered from beside him, “You’re not allowed to talk like that either, so shut up.”

 “Go to hell, all of you!” Suguru yelled instead, “I never wanted your help, all I want is…”

 His words were cut off by a barely hearable tap, like a finger against glass. For a moment it looked as if he was the only one who had heard it and Keiji saw a slow horror downing on him, showing clear on his already pale face. Kenma was the next to acknowledge the soft sound and when he did, the same trace of unspeakable horror flashed through his face and Keiji saw his fingers tightening over Suguru’s.

 Suguru’s fingers let go of the dirty sheet they were desperately holding onto and he lifted a shivering hand to point at something behind him. His jaw went slack and his eyes widened to the point where they looked like giant plates on his face, glowing with unexplainable horror. Kenma was again the first to look at the thing Suguru was pointing at with a shaking hand, turning his head slowly, eyes widening and mouth falling opened in a soundless scream.

 A loud crash echoed in the silent lobby, coming from the glass doors, and Suguru really did scream then. While Kenma flinched and automatically tried to crawl back, hand still clutching Suguru’s as much as he held onto him, Tetsurou and Keiji quickly looked towards the double doors of the hotel. What they saw was more than frightening and disturbing, enough to make them freeze on their spots, watching the scene before them with wide, frightened eyes.

 While they had seen only darkness outside the glass doors a few minutes ago, now the same darkness had become darker and thicker with all sorts of monstrous shapes and forms, which clawed against the doors, much like the demon Keiji had seen outside of his window claw against the pavement of the parking lot. The eyes of the shadows glowed and sparkled in deep red, watching and observing them as if they were mice in a glass aquarium.

 Another loud crash filled the lobby, as the shadows tried to force their way in, making Keiji fall back against Tetsurou in his try to scramble away, while Kenma covered his ears with a strangled yell. The scared noises he let out were nothing compared to Suguru’s panicked yells, as he tried to move further away from the doors, despite his injury. The more he moved, the more the towels over his stomach got soaked with his blood, making the stench in the lobby barely bearable.

 But was there really a reason to run, Keiji wondered?

 No matter how much they clawed at the glass and tried to brake it, the shadow like beings made little to no progress. The glass shuddered and shook, but it didn’t brake, as if it was made of laminated paper. And as much as Keiji’s heart jumped with every single hit of the monsters against the glass, he desperately tried to stay calm and focused. It was clear they couldn’t come in with them, they couldn’t hurt them as long as they stayed in the hotel.

 The thought was hard to believe in such an anxious situation, when Suguru kept screaming bloody murder and when Keiji him self was close to tears the more he stared at the red eyes of the creatures outside.  
 “They can’t get in.” Tetsurou said from behind Keiji, voice firm. When Keiji looked up at him however, he saw his normally confident face pale and uncertain, brows knit over his forehead, as his hands shook with the tension. “They really can’t get in.”

 “Make it stop already!” Kenma suddenly yelled out, fingers shaking over his ears. “Make the noise go away!”

 “Daishou, stop yelling!” Tetsurou snapped, making Keiji flinch, before turning towards Suguru. He clasped a hand over his eyes and pressed his head back against the tiles, his other hand shooting up to press against the blood soaked towels they had tied against his wound. “There’s nothing that can hurt you here, do you hear me! They _can’t_ get in! It was written against your window! That’s why the thing you saw couldn’t get in too, Kenma! They _can’t_ come in unless _we_ let them in, so _stay calm_!”

 Another strangled cry came from Suguru, before he began to babble all kinds of nonsense, as if he was in a delirium, shaking his head left and right furiously. It was by far an ugly sight and Keiji felt an immense amount of relief wash over him when he passed out. Beside him, Kenma was stuck in a phase of quiet crying, shiver after shiver running over his body as he tried desperately to fight the boiling panic. Keiji wasn’t in a better condition. The more he tried to breathe normally, the more his chest heaved painfully. His throat had as if closed to the air he needed so badly.

 While Tetsurou spit out profanity after profanity, eyes darting back and fort in nagging panic, Keiji found the noises from outside slowly becoming more and more muffled. As if his ears were filled with cotton and he was hearing everything over it. For a second he was scared something was happening with him, but when he looked towards the doors he saw the shadows slowly merging together and disappearing. Long and positively sharp nails still dug against the glass in hopes of shattering it, but Keiji finally decided to believe what Tetsurou had said. The monsters really could enter the hotel if they weren’t invited first. Despite making such big sense, Keiji still couldn’t relax with the new knowledge in mind.

 When the only sound left in the lobby was again Kenma’s ragged breathing they knew it was finally over. For now at least. They didn’t know how long the false peace would last, if it would even last long enough for the tension to melt, but every second they lived through was valuable. It would be a miracle if they made it till sunrise and Keiji finally embraced the idea that he might not last that long at all. But did he care? Now that whatever was out there or inside with them had taken Koutarou away from him? He wanted to think over the question, but deep down, he knew the true answer…

 After the silence continued for more than a minute, Tetsurou stood up, almost tripping as he did. Only now did Keiji realize how scared he actually looked, despite having tried to keep everyone calm earlier. That was inevitable, he thought. Tetsurou might have looked strong and brave, but he wasn’t anything more than them. He wasn’t a fighter. If those things had gotten in, he would have been the first to throw him self to protect them, but would surely be the first to die as well. The more Keiji thought about it, the more he began to think that there surely won’t be anything more than death waiting for them in the end of the terribly long night.

 For a moment Keiji kept his eyes on Tetsurou, who was now kneeling beside Kenma, telling him something he couldn’t overhear, as Kenma kept shaking his head, before looking down at Suguru’s wound.

 The folded towels, moistened with rubbing alcohol, were now almost completely red and dripping with hot blood.

 While Tetsurou tried to calm Kenma down, Keiji untied the sheet keeping the towels in place and gently removed them, wincing when he saw how deep and bad the wound looked beneath Suguru’s clothes. He threw away the already used towels and took more from the pile beside him, wetting them generously with the rubbing alcohol before laying them down over the dripping wound. Suguru didn’t wince or twitch, nor did he give any other reaction. Once Keiji had tied the bloody sheet over the towels again, he grabbed his wrist, exhaling deeply after he found the barest trace of his pulse.

 “Are you alright now?” Keiji hears Tetsurou say and he looks up towards him and Kenma, whose breathing had gotten a little less harsh than it was a moment ago. His face was still red and tremors still rocked through his body, but the more seconds passed, the more he began to look stable again.

 “I am.” He softly said after catching his breath. “I think I am…”

 “We should go behind the reception desk.” Keiji said after a moment, catching the two’s attention. “If we stay here in the open and this happens again, it won’t be good. And we’ll be closer to the storage this way.”

 “We won’t be able to see those things if they come back and that’s what’s important.” Tetsurou nodded and stood up, helping Kenma to his feet as well, “How will we drag Daishou there? Won’t it be bad if we move him a lot?”

 “It will but…There’s no other way.”

 Tetsurou looked like he was thinking about some better option, one which didn’t include Suguru bleeding out while they moved him around like a full sack, but there was nothing better left for them to do. Hiding behind the reception was better than staying in the middle of the lobby as entertainment for whatever monsters lurked around outside in the dark. He still had a hard time admitting their presence, the existence of a force beyond the human imagination, but there was no way he could deny it. Tetsurou thought he had accepted the facts, that he had made it clear with himself, but it was so hard.

 Shaking his head to banish the nagging thoughts, Tetsurou knelt down beside Suguru’s head and grabbed the end of the sheet. Keiji followed his lead and knelt beside Suguru’s feet, grabbing its other end. They didn’t dare lift Suguru, but simply dragging his dead weight over the tiles was just as hard. His blood had soaked the material bellow him and left trails over the floor, just like the time they had dragged him out of the storage. That made Keiji worry if the knife had stabbed its way not only in his stomach and around his guts, but out as well? It was hard enough dealing with one wound as it was, he didn’t know how he would treat another. Keiji wasn’t a doctor, despite studying biology. He told him self to see if there was a wound on Suguru’s back when they moved behind the reception, just in case, and if there really was, he would try and patch it up as much as possible. The least they could do was try, and that Keiji made his key word for tonight.

 After successfully making it behind the counter, Keiji again disappeared into the storage to look for another bottle of rubbing alcohol. Suguru’s bleeding wasn’t lessening and it wouldn’t be long before Keiji would have to change the towels again. It wouldn’t be long before he would have to give up his tries to help as well, if it continued like this.

 From now on, the only thing they could do was wait. Time passed slowly, torturing their nerves. While Keiji occupied him self with cleaning Suguru’s wound (gladly there was only one, but deep enough for two) and making sure he was still alive, Tetsurou sat on the floor, leaning against the desk behind him and trying to keep him self awake. Despite the nerve wrecking experience minutes ago, the second Kenma’s head touched Tetsurou’s chest he was out like a light. It was hard to believe how one could sleep in such a moment, but Keiji doubted that his sleep was peaceful. He didn’t move, didn’t even make a sound, but who knew what was going on in his mind.

 There was no sound in the lobby. Keiji and Tetsurou didn’t talk. No one dared to make the slightest of sound in fear of triggering another nightmare. When Keiji changed the towels on Suguru’s wound, he worked slowly. Blood began to dirty his fingers, but his mind was too hazy for him to mind. He wanted to fall down on the tiles and pass out. And when he woke up it would be morning and he would be in his bed beside Koutarou. And when he stood up he would go make them breakfast and he would leave bread crumbs on the baseboard for the birds. And everything would be like it was before.

 Perhaps he had spaced out, because the next thing he knew, Tetsurou was softly calling his name and waving a hand at him. Keiji looked up at him startled, blinking furiously to banish the sleep threatening to overcome him.

 “Are you okay?” Tetsurou asks, concern lacing his voice as he eyes Keiji. “You were staring into space.”

 “I’m fine.” Keiji answers with a shake of his head, reaching up to rub his tired eyes.

 A strangled gurgle of Suguru’s brought Keiji’s attention to him and he leaned down to hear what he was trying to say.

 “Water…” Suguru wheezed and Keiji quickly nodded, jumping up on his feet and running into the storage. Despite Suguru’s condition not making any improvement, it wasn’t getting worse either and that had to be enough for now.

 Keiji managed to find a bottle of cool water in broken cooler in the storage, probably the same out of which the friendly Nametsu had taken his own water a day ago. He quickly returned to Suguru and helped him drink, but he barely managed to get a sip of water before starting to choke and cough blood. He tried to sip up, but quickly fell down on the floor, wincing in pain. His wound wasn’t yet closed, so the little, quick movement made the bleeding worse. That made Keiji frown, as he tried to sooth the suffering Suguru, wiping the blood on his chin away and sprinkling some cool water over his pale, sweaty face. While he did, Tetsurou watched him tiredly.

 When Keiji was done, Suguru again seemed unconscious. That might prove to be a blessing if he didn’t die with no one noticing. With a deep sigh, Keiji leaned back on his hands and lifted the water bottle to his own lips, gulping down a generous amount of the clear liquid. When he felt refreshed enough he offered the bottle to Tetsurou, who took it wordlessly and gulped down the remaining water before throwing the bottle away somewhere beside them.

 “If you want to take a rest, come here.” He told Keiji after, motioning for him to come closer to him. “I’ll watch over Daishou.”

 Keiji only shook his head.

 “I wouldn’t be able to sleep.” He quietly mumbled, again rubbing his sore eyes. “I just wouldn’t…”

 “Then just come here.” Tetsurou continued, “I won’t make you sleep, just let me hold you.”

 Keiji eyed Tetsurou, thinking over his words. He knew Tetsurou didn’t mean anything bad by his offer. They were a lot closer and definitely had done a lot of things aside from simply holding each other close. They had shared a relationship with Koutarou after all, long ago, before Tetsurou met Kenma. At first, when he left, Keiji was frustrated. Mostly because he didn’t know what his problem was. However, after the initial sting of his leaving passed, Keiji found him self thinking in a different direction. Tetsurou looked just as happy with Kenma as he did while he was still with him and Koutarou and if Keiji cared for him just as much as he had told both him and Koutarou, than that simple fact had to be enough to make his jealousy disappear. Eventually that came as well and he found him self observing Kenma and Tetsurou’s interactions with a smile.

 But he still had Koutarou then, while now, he was alone. Whoever was up there and made the world move as it did definitely _loved_ watching him suffer so brutally. First Tetsurou left, claiming that the time they had together was more than fun and amazing, but Kenma was the one who he felt could truly satisfy him, and now Koutarou was… _gone_. Those thoughts made Keiji frustrated, made him angry, made his hands itch uncomfortably.

Tetsurou seemed to be patiently waiting for his answer. No matter how much Keiji wanted to decline his offer, he found him self slowly crawling towards him. He was so tired. And Tetsurou’s chest seemed more than comfortable. A little rest would do him good. If he couldn’t think straight, he would be useless when the timed called for some stable thinking.

 He leaned back against the reception desk and towards Tetsurou, who quickly wrapped a strong arm over his shoulders. A protective gesture, Keiji thought, but didn’t complain. He was past that now. 

 “Are you okay?” Tetsurou asks and Keiji mechanically nods.

 “I just need this…for just a moment.”

 Keiji knows that he shouldn’t be taking advantage of their past relationship. Tetsurou isn’t his now and it isn’t his duty to offer him comfort. And this definitely isn’t friendly comfort. This is the type of comfort Tetsurou gave when Keiji was stressed out of work and studying, but that was long ago. Now, such gestures were reserved for Kenma, and because Keiji really liked him and was glad he kept Tetsurou in line, he couldn’t just indulge in it. Tetsurou wasn’t his anymore.

 Even so, Tetsurou him self didn’t think there was anything wrong. He kept the same possessive hold he had on Kenma over Keiji as well. He was just that nice, Keiji thought, but he didn’t want him to feel indebted to comfort him just because they had had a relationship a year or two back. No, it wasn’t just a _relationship_. It was odd, but it was _love_. They were so different, but they managed to care for each other. They laughed, shared their dinner and their bed. Keiji had loved Tetsurou, once, long ago, but he couldn’t now. Because Tetsurou didn’t want it with him anymore. It made Keiji feel lonely, deep inside. Because Koutarou was gone now too, just like Tetsurou.

 “How did…How did you find him?” he heard himself saying, his voice too rough and scrappy to be his own.

 Tetsurou stiffened and when Keiji opened his eyes to look at him, he was looking up at the flickering lights.

 “Drowned.” He softly answered, licking his lips before continuing, “Something…Something drowned him in the pool.”

 Keiji opened his mouth to say something else, but quickly closed it and looked towards Suguru. His heart clenched painfully and he fought hard against the desire to raise a hand and grab at his hurting chest. Hot tears prickled at the corners of his eyes, but he held them in. His head had started to hurt and now the pain was barely bearable. Despite not wanting to, he imagined Koutarou in the pool, floating lifelessly in the water. The mere thought that he would never be able to see Koutarou smiling and laughing made his stomach wrench and hurt. And he was the one at fault. If he had only been rougher with him and had made him leave the pool, he wouldn’t have been dead now. Would be with them and would offer him the comfort Tetsurou felt bound to give.

 The thought gave Keiji no rest.

 “Akaashi,” Tetsurou began after a moment, his voice soft and surprisingly soothing, “I wanted to ask you…You might actually get angry at me right now, since Bo is…you know. But please, don’t think I’m taking advantage of that. It hurts me just as much as you.”

 Keiji looked up at him and blinked, waiting for him to continue.

 Tetsurou kept his gaze fixed on the ceiling as he spoke.

 “I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come and live with me and Kenma. If…If we make it through tonight, and somehow manage to get help and go home…I don’t want you to be alone.” This time Tetsurou looked down at Keiji before he continued. “I want you to come with me. I won’t leave you alone. I’m ready to take care of you, like before. Do you want me to?”

 Keiji stared at him for a moment, not really sure what Tetsurou wanted him to say, or what he himself wanted to answer.

 He opened his mouth, but no words came out. After a moment he tried again, slowly, thinking over every word carefully.

 “I…I’m thankful that you would think of me, Kuroo-san, but…You already have a relationship in which I don’t quite fit…”

 “Kenma won’t…”

 Keiji raised a hand to silence him before he managed to finish, shaking his head softly.

 “No, listen. I’m…I’m scared of you leaving. How can I be sure that you won’t leave again?”

 Tetsurou stared at him then, taken aback by his sudden question. After the first wave of shock however, he once again resumed his seriousness. His expression alone was enough to make Keiji’s trust grow.

 “I won’t.” Tetsurou sternly said. “This won’t be like last time. I promise. Bokuto’s gone now…And because I really loved him…I just can’t imagine leaving you in such a moment, do you understand?”

 “So it’s just pity?”

 “No! It’s nothing like that. The feeling I had for you and Bo is just like the thing I feel for Kenma. It isn’t different and it isn’t platonic. Will you let me prove it to you?”

 “I’m not really sure you know what you want, Kuroo-san.” Keiji said with a sad smile, but Tetsurou’s hold over his shoulders tightened.

 “I’m pretty sure I do _know_.” He said just as sternly and confidently, looking at Keiji, “And the thing I want is you to be with me. I want Kenma with me too. I want you both. Love isn’t something reserved for only one person isn’t it, Akaashi? You know that better than me.”

 And Keiji indeed knew. He knew what it was like to love more than one person with the same intensity and passion. To be feel ready to give your all for that love, no matter how surreal it was. He knew it better than a lot of people out there.

 Still, he shook his head and tried to move away from Tetsurou.

 “I don’t know, Kuroo-san. I don’t know if I…”

 “Let me prove it.” Tetsurou pressed again, keeping him in place. “If you want it to remain platonic, alright. We’ll keep it like that. But please, let me comfort you at least now. Don’t act as if loosing Bokuto is something so little!”

 “It’s nothing _little_.” Keiji said with a frown, knitting his brows, “It’s bigger to me than it ever was to you! Did you start thinking about us now, after leaving us on purpose? Don’t even…”

 Taking a deep breath, Keiji fought against raising his voice enough to wake Kenma up or attract the attention of the demons probably watching them.

 He looked back at Tetsurou in frustration.

 “Don’t even make me talk, Kuroo-san. Do you understand why I have troubles trusting you now? Do you understand me?”

 “I understand you, believe me I do, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try to make it up to you. I know I can’t take Bo’s place…But at least let me try.”

 Keiji bit the inside of his cheek, staring up at Tetsurou. He had never felt so lost in his feelings before. It had all been so simple.

 “What about Kozume?”

 “He won’t mind, I told you.”

 “How do you know?”

 “I just do.”

 With a deep, frustrated sigh, Keiji leaned back into Tetsurou. He closed his eyes, trying to bear with the pain in his head, as he laid it over Tetsurou’s shoulder. He inhaled his musky scent, felt his pulse, felt his cold and wet clothes beneath himself. For the first time during this night of torture, Keiji felt safe, even though he shouldn’t have.

 “I really want to trust you…” he mumbled brokenly into Tetsurou’s skin, as he kept him as close as he could. “I really do.”

 “And I don’t want you to be alone.” Tetsurou replied, once again looking up towards the ceiling and the flickering white lights. “I don’t want you to be alone, Keiji.”

 They stayed like that, sharing each other’s pain and sorrow, thinking about the past and future. Thinking about Koutarou and each other. Thinking about Kenma. About Suguru. About their future lives and how they would live on if they survived the night. Lost in the silence they created themselves.

 After a moment, Tetsurou moved a bit to find a comfier position, looking back down at Keiji, who had once again space out.

 “Do you know what time it is?” he softly asked, helping Kenma lye down on his lap in his state of drowse.

 Keiji blinked once, before raising his wrist to check his watch (a present from Koutarou for his birthday the same year). He was surprised to find the white decorative watch gone however. That wasn’t something unusual. Its fastener had broken a while ago and since then it fell off sometimes. He must have lost it somewhere during his walk from the pool to the lobby, which he could hardly recall. Keiji was once again left surprised at how little he remembered from the moment he left Koutarou by the pool and the moment he found Suguru lying on the floor in the storage. He normally didn’t have memory problems and didn’t just forget so much. It didn’t feel as if he had forgotten something too. It as more like, he never really remembered anything to begin with.

 “I’m sorry, I must have lost my watch…” he told Tetsurou, brows furrowed in confusion. He felt as if something had happened, but he had no idea what and that scared him more than the beings outside.

 Tetsurou only shook his head.

 “That’s not a problem. I was just…”

 A loud crash, as if the breaking of glass, came from a few floors above them, shattering completely their false feeling of security.

 The nightmare was just about to begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, what do you guys say about this???? I've been throwing in some hints and I wonder if you guys manage to find them and put together a theory about what exactly is going on in the hotel and what exactly happened with Bo and Daishou~ ;) I'll be very happy to hear your thoughts!  
> A lot of suffering on Akaashi's side (I'm such a demon) and even more so on Daishou's! But it won't last! They'll be dying soon...Or maybe not! :D Let's be positive! See you next time and please, bear with the typos, I don't make them because I lack grammar skills, it's just that I type really fast and my thoughts are faster than my fingers, but I try to proof read everything, even thought, naturally, I miss some things, so just skip them and don't think I'm dumb. Believe me, I feel ashamed when I see a typo I accidentally missed.  
> Comment PLZ, Comments = <3 !!!!


	8. 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're almost there!!!!! By the way, i don't know why, but my notes don't show fully, just the first few words and that bothers me, I hope it doesn't happen again.  
>  Anyway!!! I think I just might shorten the chapter count from 10 to 9. But Actually, I guess I won't. I hope you enjoy this chapter!!!

 “There’s only one thing we can do now and that’s try and stay alive for as long as possible.”

 Tetsurou harshly whispered, as the sound of something coming down the stairs and towards their hiding spot got louder and louder. It wasn’t anything small. Whatever that demon was, it was big enough to make the floor rumble with every step it took. Its slow approach could be felt in the lobby.

 “I don’t know about you,” Tetsurou continued, voice loud enough for only Kenma and Keiji to hear, as his fingers tightly held the handle of the gun they had found strapped with tape under the desk at that very moment, “But I’m not willing to die here. And don’t think I’ll be letting you either.”

 “We’re gonna die…” Kenma softly whispered, his breathing picking up and his hands shaking, but otherwise he seemed stable, “We’re not gonna live through this…”

 “I’m not willing to die easily.” Keiji said for himself, fingers just barely trembling over the cold handle of the knife he had taken out of Suguru minutes before. It almost felt as if the blood coating the blade was still warm, even though it wasn’t.

 A loud crack echoed terribly close to the lobby and Keiji tried to gulp down the spit in his mouth.

 “We’ll make it out alive.” He continued, shutting his eyes for only a second before opening them again. “You promised me something, Kuroo-san.”

 Tetsurou looked at him with his signature grin and softly nodded.

 “I’m not letting you die here.” He softly said, promise hidden in his shallow voice. “When we get out of here and go back to Tokyo, I’m taking both of you to dinner. Right after I go and feed Rintarou.”

 “Don’t talk about food and the cat in this moment,” Kenma sobbed out, curling back against the desk.

 He looked ready to say something else, but just then, the floor under them shook. Like during an earthquake. From that moment on, they felt the unmistakable presence of something else in the lobby with them.

 Tetsurou took a short breath, to stable his nerves and gather enough strength, before jumping up from his spot on the floor and pointing the gun at whatever had decided to graze them with its presence. He had intended to shoot at least three bullets at it and be done quickly, but the sight before him had him paralyzed before he threw his plan in action. He barely had enough control to slip his finger over the trigger.

 The being before him was horrid. Something which could only be created by the sick mind of a psychopath with too much free time. It was a giant mass of writing bodies, melting into each other. Hands and feet scrapped against the tiles of the floor, trying to support the monstrous weight. Unseeing eyes turned left and right, moans of agony left its many mouths.

 Tetsurou’s eyes widened in horror and, gritting his teeth against the yell threatening to escape him, he finally pulled the trigger. Once and then twice. He felt as if he could shoot the whole round at once. But he didn’t have the time.

 The bullets definitely left holes in the mass of bodies. Far too large holes, through which Tetsurou could see the stairs behind the creature. But aside from the dramatically big bullet holes, it didn’t seem to be wounded. There was no blood, or whatever ran through the creature’s veins, either.

 Before Tetsurou could even think of taking cover behind the reception again, a too large, too fast, tentacle like appendage emerged from the being. It shot out to him like a bolt of lightning, wrapping around his throat and sending him flying all the way to the opposite wall.

 Tetsurou falls to the tiled floor in a fit of coughs. He feels the metallic taste of his own blood filling his mouth and swears his bones must be cracking. He curls up into him self as the immense pain washes over him and despite the loud ringing in his ears he manages to hear Kenma screaming his name, somewhere from afar.

 There was a second in which Keiji felt paralyzed, unable to move despite wanting to. After the moment of fear passed, he had only a few seconds to pull him self together and stand up.

 Keiji lifted the bloodied knife and brought it down on the black tentacle still holding Tetsurou down. The force with which he did however was far too great and he found him self falling foreword. The knife cut through the shadow mater of the tentacle as if it was made of the softest butter imaginable.

 Keiji’s knees hit the tiles as the tentacle fell apart like black mist. The monster on the other side of the reception didn’t seem in pain, but that wasn’t enough. Throwing the knife away, Keiji took the gun, which had fallen out of Tetsurou’s hands, in his shivering fingers and again stood up. He aimed it at the approaching monster and pulled the trigger. Once, twice, trice. He didn’t want to stop, but there was no way they wouldn’t need the bullets later.

 Another dark tentacle shot out of the monster, aimed towards Keiji, but he managed to react on time. He knelt down just as the dark matter cut through the air, mere inches above his head, and wrapped an arm around Kenma, pulling him along.

 “Don’t move from here.” He told him hurriedly, before he took a hold of the knife he had left on the floor and began to crawl towards Tetsurou.

 Just as he reached him, ready to shoot or stab anything which threatened them now, there was another loud noise of shattering glass. Pieces of shining glass littered the floor of the lobby, some of them reaching Keiji, others falling in the pools of blood left by Suguru. The lights again began to flicker, threatening to go out. Keiji’s heart jumped all the way to his throat. The unthinkable had happened. The glass doors of the lobby, which had been their shield against the darkness, which kept all the monsters of the forest away and provided them minimal comfort and safety, were now broken.

  _Why_ , Keiji asked himself as he slowly looked up towards the other side of the lobby, they _weren’t supposed to come in_.

 His eyes were met with thousands of red orbs, staring at him as if he was the tastiest piece of meat, the most delicious pray. Long and sharp nails began to scrape against the tiles, making shivers run through Keiji’s body like electricity. 

 “What happened?” Kenma asked from his spot behind the reception, looking at Keiji and making a motion to stand up, but Keiji raised a hand to stop him.

 “Stay there!” he yelled, “Don’t move from where you are, just don’t!”

 The first monster, thin as a twig and dark as a shadow, with fire red eyes which burned with hate, emerged from the group of shadows gathered at the broken glass doors. Its body creaked like old floorboards and the crushing of dry twigs and leafs as it dove down towards Keiji with the speed of a cheetah.

 Keiji didn’t let the fear strike him this time. He lifted the gun and pulled the trigger once. The bullet made a far too big hole in the creature’s body, hitting the ceiling of the lobby afterwords. The creature wasn’t ready to die, but the sudden loud noise made it stop in confusion. Keiji used that moment to jump on his feet and lash out at it with the knife.

 The shadow body of the creature quickly disappeared like fog in the air around him, as the knife tore through it. But it wasn’t the last one which came at Keiji with the intent to devour him.

 Another creature ran through the lobby, but just as Keiji was getting ready to protect himself, it took a sharp turn to the left. Before Keiji knew what had happened, the creature jumped at him, but its body turned into black mist just as the loud noise of the firing gun rang out. Keiji blinked in surprise then, as a small drop of sweat rolled down the side of his paled face.

 He hadn’t shot…

 “Akaashi, to your right!” Tetsurou’s raspy voice tore him out of his daze, followed by the loud fire of the gun.

 Looking over his shoulder, Keiji saw Tetsurou leaning against the wall, pain evident on his face. In his shaking hand he held the black gun. Sweat rolled down his face and pained grunts left his mouth with every breath he took.

 “Kuro, are you okay?!” Kenma worriedly yelled from his hiding spot behind the reception.

 “I’m fine.” Tetsurou yelled back, but judging by the strain in his voice, he was worse than he could actually be. “Akaashi watch out!”

 This time Keiji acted before Tetsurou could lift the gun again to shoot. He sharply turned around, spinning like a ballerina on his feet, and sliced through the shadow which was by then mere fractions away from him.

 The monsters didn’t come one by one anymore. Angered at how much it took to kill their last remaining pray and at all not entertained by their last fight for survival, they began attacking in small groups of three or four. They jumped and flew through the lobby like lightning strikes. It was becoming hard to follow their movement. Keiji began to chaotically slice around with the knife, unsure from where the next beast might emerge, while Tetsurou could no longer follow their movement to accurately shoot at them.

 By that moment Keiji began to panic. He knew the shadows were around him, but he didn’t know where they were exactly. The knife was becoming more and more useless, similar to the gun. His movements were no longer coordinated. But Keiji felt as if he didn’t have the mind to direct them at something exact. His priority was to stay alive and that meant cutting and slicing at whatever came in his field of vision. The feeling was oddly familiar, but he had no time or desire to think over it.

 Too caught up in protecting him self from the slowly nearing death, Keiji found him self stepping in the pools of blood they had left on the floor earlier. The red liquid was cool and sticky against the tiles. It made Keiji’s feet slip against the floor, just as another monster emerged from the group by the doors. Its red eyes were the only thing Keiji managed to recognize before he was thrown back against the reception with enough force to crush his insides.

 His back hit the edge of the hard desk and Keiji screamed as pain rippled through him. He fell against the floor, tears and black dots clouding his vision as he struggled to breathe. From his spot beside the wall Tetsurou screamed his name and again lifted the gun to shoot at whatever he managed to recognize with the hopes of turning it into fog.

 Tetsurou pushed him self away from the wall with all the strength he had and tried to walk the little distance between him and Keiji. He hadn’t taken more than two steps however, when a snake like shadow shot through the floor and wrapped around his ankle like a vice. Its grip was as strong as the bite of a crocodile and Tetsurou found him self screaming in surprise and pain when the shadow pulled sharply, making him loose balance and fall on the tile with a loud huff of pain. Looking over his shoulder, Tetsurou realized that it wasn’t just a vice like tentacle holding him. It was the arm of something in the group of shadows still at the broken glass doors.

 He grit his teeth against the pain and tried to crawl towards the reception, but if he continued like that, there was a big chance the shadow being would tear his leg. He yelled out in frustration as the he felt himself slowly being pulled back, despite all his efforts to crawl away. Tetsurou’s grip on the gun handle tightened and he raised it again to try and shoot at the being holding him, but that only resulted in him loosing the little hold he had on the floor bellow. He managed to shoot only once and miss, before the tentacle wrapped around his ankle pulled him sharply towards the shadows.

 Tetsurou dropped the gun and actually screamed, as he tried to grab onto something, _anything_.

 And then he screamed again, but this time, it was Kenma’s name, as he emerged from behind the reception and ran up to him.

 “Kuro!” Kenma yelled in panic, throwing him self on the floor to grab Tetsurou’s hands to pull him back. His weight however didn’t add anything to Tetsurou’s and the monster trying to separate them didn’t even feel the resistance.

 “Let me go!” Tetsurou said, as he felt both of them being dragged through the bloody floor as if they didn’t weight more than a feather.

 “I won’t let you die alone!” Kenma answered, reaching out a hand to blindly search for the gun Tetsurou had dropped.

 “Let me go, damn it!” Tetsurou continued, but he himself couldn’t find the strength to let go of Kenma’s hand. “I won’t let you die with me! You idiot!”

 Kenma didn’t replay instantly. His fingers finally found the handle of the gun and wrapped around it. He grit his teeth, managing to stand up on his knees, as he looked down at Tetsurou.

 “If I let you die, I’ll have to find Rintarou a new home…”

 Kenma raised the gun and pointed it at the cluster of shadows behind Tetsurou. He pulled the trigger once, twice…Fueled by a sudden pang of anger, he refused to drop the gun even after it began to click softly instead of producing a shot.

 Kenma felt his chest begin to heave with every rushed breath he tried to take. His hands began to shiver and he barely kept the gun up. Everything fell into silence and every movement ceased. Despite all the horror they had gone through that night, Kenma was certain that those few seconds of silence and stillness were a lot scarier than anything else that had happened.

 A few seconds was all everything continued, even though the time felt terribly stretched.

 A long and sharp claw emerged from the shadows, cutting throw the air with the signature speed of all the other tentacles directed at them so far, but this time, it was heading straight at Kenma. The whistling of air reached his ears, but he had no time to move. There was no time to scream or even blink.

 Kenma’s eyes widened in realization. Tetsurou yelled his name. Keiji, who was fighting to support his weight on the reception, also found him self uttering it, as if it was the last time he ever would.

 The sharp edge of the claw however never reached Kenma. The harsh gust of heavy air which it brought with its self was the only thing which hit his horror struck face, making his hair fly back before settling on his sweaty neck again. Kenma’s breath hitched then. He didn’t dare to even blink.

 There, a few millimeters before his wide eye, had stopped the sharp claw which could have pierced right through his skull in seconds. But it didn’t. Instead, it disappeared like a shadow exposed to light.

 But it wasn’t only that shadow which disappeared. Every monster and creature of the night which had invaded the lobby began to turn into black dust, lighter than air. A beam of cold sunlight shone through the slowly disappearing shadows, reaching Kenma’s wide eyes and making him blink harshly.

 When he looked through the broken doors of the hotel, he saw a sight he never believed he would see again. He saw the slowly rising autumn sun shine above the dark trees and through the clouds, making the puddles on the parking lot shine as if they were covered in glitter.

 When the shadows disappeared fully, banished by the rising sun, a feeling of ease and comfort again spread through the lobby, the forest, the parking lot. It was something neither of them had actually felt upon their arrival at the hotel. It was something old but refreshing, like a splash of cold water in the hot desert.

 They were alive. They had made it. But what followed? And what price did they pay?

 The gun finally fell from Kenma’s quivering hands, hitting the floor with an incisive slam. He looked down at Tetsurou, who also looked up at him, eyes actually glistering with unshed tears of fright and panic. His hand tightened around Kenma’s shaking one and he tried to sit up, despite the pain coursing through his body, as Kenma cried.

 For a long time that crying was the only thing filling their quiet surroundings. The flickering lights above them finally stopped working and the cold mountain air again began to blow through the trees and leafs.

\---

 

 Instead of getting better with the rise of the sun, Suguru’s condition worsened considerably. The phones still didn’t work and there was no way for them to call for help from the hotel. There was no way to drive down to the convenience store either. There was no sign of Tetsurou’s car still and someone, something, had completely ruined Koutarou’s. The engine was completely out of order and even if they had managed to find the keys, they couldn’t start it.

 Even though they were saved from the monsters as long as the sun shone, they were trapped in the hotel. And even though they could make it long enough for help to arrive, Suguru didn’t have that luck.

 The next best thing to do was to walk down the forest path to the road and stop a car. But even though the atmosphere had gotten a lot lighter, there was still a big chance that something was hiding behind the trees and waited for them to come out.

 It was a hard decision to make considering Suguru’s life was on the line. And, yes, Tetsurou didn’t like him, he was like a thorn in his side ever since he had met him, but that didn’t mean he could watch him just die. Not doing anything was like killing him himself and even though Tetsurou had imagined such a scenario in a fit of rage towards him, he didn’t have enough strength now to do something like that.

 Keiji and him were also in a state far too worse than they imagined. A few broken ribs which made moving and breathing a torture, a broken ankle and some other minor bruises made them incapable of almost everything and there was no way Kenma could care for the three of them until help decided to come. He was the first to offer walking down to the road, but Tetsurou and Keiji were quick to disapprove of the idea.

 “If something happens, you won’t be able to protect your self.” Keiji had explained, despite Kenma’s frown. “The gun is out of bullets and it’s more possible you would stab a normal person coming up the path than actually protecting your self against something else.”

 And he was right. The panic hadn’t yet subsided and not from only Kenma. It was possible that they could take their fear out on someone who tried to help them than on something that tried to hurt them.

 As much as he tried to take care of Suguru, who was barely alive by that time, Keiji himself felt like crying. He could barely breathe and he feared that a broken rib had done too much damage than it was worth. The pain was quickly becoming unbearable, but there were no pain killers around to numb it. In the end he ended up lying beside his patient, wheezing for breath and trying to stay as still as possible to prevent the immense pain which followed every little movement. Tetsurou seemed to be in a better condition, but even he wasn’t safe from the burning pain which came with every little breath.

 The minutes and hours molded together, fusing with pain and despair. Slipping in and out of uncomfortable sleep, all there was left for Keiji was to stare at the little pieces of dust, illuminated by the soft sunlight coming from the broken doors. He focused on those flakes of dust, thinking about home, about his colleagues in the university, about the dinner Tetsurou promised him. He thought about Koutarou and about the fact he was now gone and would never come back. Something told him that Tetsurou thought about the same, as he breathed heavily on the floor. Those thoughts distracted them from the dark truth that they had survived through a whole nightmare, only to wake up to the certainly approaching end.

 Consumed in those languid thoughts, none of them heard the car slowly pulling up into the parking lot of the hotel. Honestly, they were mostly passed out of pain, stress and tiredness. It was Kenma who heard the sound of the engine and tires, rolling through puddles of water. Despite the exhaustion, he managed to stand up on his knees and crawl to Tetsurou, shaking his shoulder to wake him up.

 To their surprise, the car belonged to officer Sawamura, who didn’t hesitate to call the police department the moment he saw the chaos in the hotel. As it turned out, he had called the management of the hotel at least three times since he got to the department to see if the missing people had turned up, only to find the connection disabled. That was the first sign that something was wrong for Sawamura. After having called the reception of the hotel so many times during the past week, having no connection now was worrying. Therefore he had decided to check things for him self, and, God, were Keiji, Tetsurou and Kenma glad he had.

 According to Sawamura it was already half past eleven which didn’t surprise Keiji at the least. He had spent most of the morning unconscious, so it was explainable why the hours blended so furiously and the seconds passed by so quickly.

 The officer didn’t let them stay in the hotel more than needed. It was a hassle to get in his police car, especially Suguru who was barely alive and still bleeding, but no one was being left behind. Keiji wasn’t in any better condition, but he had to sit upright for most of the ride down the bumpy forest road. Every little jump of the car made him wince and groan, but he could try to lead his life as he had before now. It would be empty and different without Koutarou, he already missed him and his heart ached, but he could only bite his tongue and bear it. The most important thing was that he was going to live. He was going to go home and he would make it. He could live for both of them. That’s what he promised himself at least.

 At the end of the forest road were parked three or four patrol cars and an ambulance. The busy road had been cut off for any other cars. Seeing other people, policemen more ever, filled Keiji with such warmth and made him feel so safe and relaxed, he felt like he could pass out then and there. Perhaps that’s what had happened since the next thing he remembered, he was being laid down on a stretcher and fussed over by a female doctor.

 The doctor gave out orders to the other medics and was just about to leave Keiji when he lifted a hand to wrap his fingers around her thin wrist, catching her attention.

 “Are Kuroo-san and Daishou-san alright?” he wheezed, mind fogged by the pain killers he had probably been injected with. He barely felt any pain now, but he still didn’t dare move.

 The dark haired woman looked at him and put her surprisingly warm hand over his fingers.

 “Everything will be alright, you just stay here and we’ll take you the hospital in town soon.” she told him and Keiji could only nod before she disappeared.

 Looking to the side, Keiji spotted Tetsurou speaking to Sawamura. He lay on a stretcher on the ground, while the policeman knelt beside him and asked him questions. Keiji couldn’t overhear what they were talking about and something told him that his turn to be interrogated would come soon.

 Near one of the police cars was Kenma, who couldn’t stop fidgeting uncomfortably as he was questioned by some jumpy short officer, while a blonde nurse, just as nervous as him, tried to patch up the little scrapes and bruises littering his arms and face.

 On the border of unconsciousness, Keiji heard the gentle doctor from before calling to him and lifting his hand. With great effort he looked up at her, the little daylight bothering his tired eyes.

 “Do your wrists hurt, Akaashi-san?” she asked him, and Keiji blinked, processing her question. The sleeve of his shirt fell low towards his elbow, revealing the pale skin of his wrists. But it wasn’t the only thing Keiji noticed. The thing he had somehow missed during the whole night were the red, not too deep wounds over his wrists, covered with crusted blood. The skin around them was red and irritated, turning into blueish bruises at some places, it was obvious why the doctor had asked if they hurt. But Keiji hadn’t noticed them. He hadn’t had the time and they didn’t hurt. But the question was _why_? The little crescent wounds were deep enough to bleed, albeit briefly. They surely had to at least sting. But Keiji hadn’t felt them. He didn’t even remember receiving them…

 Until he finally did.

 His dark eyes slowly widened in realization. His mind, clowded with the daze of the medicine and his own pain, opened up to memories he had sealed somewhere deep in its shadows. The crescents on his wrists were made by someone’s nails and the bruises covering the rest of his wrists were made by someone’s grip. _Koutarou’s grip_ , as he had struggled to pray his hands away from his neck and swim above the water of the pool to breathe. Everything began to make sense. The time Tetsurou had hugged him in the hall and he had felt his shirt soaking with water from his clothes, it wasn’t Tetsurou’s clothes that were wet – _his were_. Why had he suddenly found him self in the storage room with Suguru? Because after drowning his boyfriend in the hotel pool, he had walked outside in the dark to ruin the engine of his car. And after that, through some dark force, he had walked back into the hotel through the side door leading to the room beside the storage. _A room filled with utensils and supplies for the restaurant_. Keiji could now remember vividly as he swung the knife with the intent to kill, just like he had done against the shadows invading the lobby, but back then it was against Suguru who he tried to save for the rest of the night. He remembered the feeling of bloodlust and murderous intent he had never had and never felt take over him that time, similar to what had made him so _angry_ in the room of the pool. The emotions rippled through him like waves during a storm. The memories shone so real in his mind, it felt as if he was going through everything again, but this time he felt it. This time he felt his fingers squeeze around Koutarou’s neck, hold the kitchen knife as it pierced Suguru’s flesh.

 Keiji grit his teeth, his jaw tightening painfully, as he fought against the sobs climbing up his throat. It felt impossible to breath. The pain was again awoken by his held in crying and he knew he couldn’t hide the tears burning in his eyes anymore. Tears which had been threatening to spill ever since Tetsurou told him Koutarou was dead, ever since he got to face death its self in the lobby. And now it was even worse. Now Keiji knew that he was a _murderer_. Knew that he had so mercilessly killed the only person who ever gave him comfort and filled the void in his existence. Knew that he was the reason for Suguru’s suffering. Knew that he could have killed Tetsurou and Kenma in any given second of the night.

 The hot tears of grief and anger slid down his bruised cheeks, his sudden outburst making the doctor treating him panic. He must have been a pitiful sight. Crying so intensely over nothing. But even though all of those policemen and doctors didn’t know, Keiji _knew_. He knew it was his fault, knew that he was a _murderer_.

 “Akaashi-san, are you alright?” the doctor beside him asked, still holding his wrist in far too gentle fingers. Keiji didn’t deserve the gentle treatment, didn’t deserve her worry. “Everything’s okay Akaashi-san. You’re alright. You’re friends will be alright too, there’s no reason to cry…” the woman above him continued to assure him, turning briefly towards a colleague of hers and asking for something Keiji couldn’t recognize. He couldn’t think straight at the moment. All he could do was cry his heart out as he slowly accepted the gruesome facts and the crime he had committed.

 But even though he could come to terms with how things were, he couldn’t just tell Sawamura. The risk was far too large. He would be sentenced to life in prison and that was something he couldn’t survive through. It wasn’t his fault. He had been taken over by something. Keiji would never kill Koutarou, would never raise a weapon against someone. He was the type to make path to the ant if needed. He wasn’t violent. There was nothing strong enough to make him do what he had done. Which could only mean he wasn’t himself when he had done everything. But no one would believe him. No one would believe that he had been possessed by the darkness in the forest. It was something so ancient, so old. As if the entire hate and despair of the human race had been gathered in that forest and took over everyone who was foolish enough to enter it. All of those feeling and pressure grew and grew until they released that night with destructive consequences. It wasn’t Keiji’s fault. But no one would believe him. And that was why, despite crying so pitifully now, he had to swallow the secret and accepted it as something which would haunt him until he died, only to take it with himself in the grave. Keiji wouldn’t tell a soul about what he had done. No one would know. Not even Tetsurou or Kenma. _Especially_ them.

 Someone kept calling his name, rubbing away his tears as they kept falling and blurring his sight, while the beautiful doctor who had taken care of him injected something in his arm, but Keiji was too far gone to care what the doctors gave him. As long as he could forget, as long as he passed out, he accepted everything.

\---

 

  _The picture in front of the camera shakes before stabilizing again as it is sat down on a table far enough to catch the whole room in the shot. The picture flickers and shakes, but once the camera is properly set, it becomes much or less clear for the viewer._

_The room is gray, small, the floor looks like it is covered with white tiles in big need of cleaning. In the middle of the room stands a table with two chairs on each side, where its occupants sit. One of them is the police officer, who sits with his back to the camera and the other is the one being interrogated. The camera is put in such an angle that it shows his tired face._

_The person who had set up the camera makes some kind of a signal to the officer and the interrogation begins seconds after._

_“_ Well, now, because our conversation will be recorded, I would like you to introduce your self again before we proceed. _” The officer says casually, “_ Name, age, occupation and address. _”_

 _“_ Kuroo Tetsurou, twenty one years old. I live in Nerima, Tokyo and I study chemistry. _” Tetsurou doesn’t hesitate to answer, leaning his head to rest on his folded hands._

 _“_ What business did you have in Date Hotel from Saturday to Sunday three days ago? _” The officer continues and Tetsurou doesn’t seem fazed by his questions at all._

 _“_ We were on a friendly trip to the mountains. _” He answers, “_ We were supposed to spend two days there but we arrived Friday afternoon. _”_

 _“_ Can you tell us again who was with you on that friendly trip? _”_

 _“_ My self, my boyfriend, our friends Bokuto Koutarou and Akaashi Keiji. Our mutual…friends, Daishou Suguru and Hisakawa Mika were also there. Our other mutual friend, Shirofuku Yukie, was there too. She found the hotel and helped with making the reservations. _”_

 _“_ Hisakawa Mika and Shirofuku Yukie have disappeared and we found Bokuto Koutarou’s body by the pool. Can you tell me what you did the fatal night between Saturday and Sunday when everything happened? _”_

_Tetsurou hesitates with his words. He takes a deep breath and holds it in before releasing it. It’s obvious he is thinking, putting his thoughts in some order before he speaks again._

_“_ I woke up late, _” he slowly begins, not looking at the officer as he does, “_ At around something past midnight. Daishou came knocking on the room’s door, waking me and Kenma, my boyfriend, up. He accused me of writing something really disturbing on his window, but I told him that I hadn’t. We had a little fight before going down stairs. _”_

 _“_ This is the writing on his window you had a fight over? _” the officer cuts in, sliding a photo over the table to Tetsurou, who nods after giving it a quick look._

 _“_ Yes, that’s it. _” he says before continuing, “_ Mika was in the lobby, then came Bo and Akaashi. There was no one at the reception even though we were told it works at night too. The phone line was cut and we couldn’t call for help. After that some of us went out to start a car and go to the convenience store by the road and call for help from there, while Bo and Akaashi stayed in the hotel to look for the staff and Yukie, who was by then gone… _”_

 _“_ At that point of the night Hisakawa-san disappears as well, right? _”_

 _“_ Yes…We went outside, but my car was gone. Daishou started acting out of it and Mika yelled at him before…Before something swiped her into the forest. We tried to help her, but she was gone before we knew it. _”_

 _“_ We found a shoe, supposedly belonging to Hisakawa-san a few feet into the forest, _” the officer again shows Tetsurou a photo, “_ But we couldn’t find your car. Could it be possible that Shirofuku-san had taken it and fled? _”_

 _“_ I don’t think so. _” Tetsurou says with a soft shake of his head, “_ If she did, then you would have seen some marks on the path. And if she did, that means she walked out in only her pajamas, which is absurd. _”_

 _“_ What happened after you came back in the hotel? _”_

 _“_ I told Daishou and Kenma to stay in the lobby while I went to look for Bo and Akaashi. _”_

 _“_ And while looking for them, you stumble across Bokuto-san’s body in the pool? _”_

 _“_ Exactly… _”_

 _“_ You took him out of the water and when you realized he was already dead, you returned to the lobby. _”_

_Tetsurou nods silently. He doesn’t speak for a few seconds._

_“_ When I came back to the lobby, it was like I walked in on a crime scene… _” he softly continued, running his hands through his messy hair with a deep sigh, “_ Daishou was already wounded and Akaashi was there already. He and Kenma were trying to help him. I…I told Akaashi about Bo and…And we went to help Daishou. _”_

 _“_ You say that after that you tried to fight against some monsters which came from the forest _…”_

 _“_ They did. I mean, at first we thought they couldn’t get in, but then they did and…Look. Sawamura-san. I understand that you may not believe me, but I’m not lying. I usually don’t believe in all of those supernatural stories, but I know what I saw. I know what you’re thinking. That we decided to kill half of the hotel on a whim and tell you some crappy story later. But the truth is that we almost died that night and… _” Tetsurou stops and buries his face in his palms before looking at the officer again, “_ Friends we cared about disappeared and my closest friend died. And the fault is in the forest. Something’s going on there, something crazy and scary. I’m usually the type to believe something only when I see and touch it, you know the saying, and I wouldn’t be talking like this about something I didn’t believe in. You would understand if you were there. _”_

 _“_ We probably wouldn’t be able to get to the bottom of this case, _” Sawamura said after a moment, leaning back in his chair, “_ And I do believe you to some extend. Kuroo-san, you do know that we found two unidentified corpses in the basement of the hotel, right? We also found the corpse of Nametsu Mai, a receptionist, lying in a little river a few hundred meters away from the hotel into the forest. She must have been running from something horrid enough to make her get out of the hotel in only her night clothes and barefoot. _”_

 _“_ We were against something just as horrid in the hotel. _”_

 _“_ I’m willing to believe you, if no other possibilities come up. But aside from clues, facts and medical theories…What is your thought on the case, Kuroo-san? What is your own theory and what do you think actually happened in Date Hotel that night? _”_

_The picture shakes and threatens to disappear. It jumps once or twice before settling again._

_Tetsurou is still silent, looking down at the table. His thin brows furrow over his forehead and he frowns for a moment before slowly looking up at Sawamura._

_“_ I’m a man of science, as stupid as it sounds. _” He slowly begins, “_ I don’t believe in ghosts. But what happened in the hotel, what killed my friends and the staff, was definitely something out of this world. You want to hear my theory? I think that, after years of escalating pressure, it was finally released that night. Our world got mixed up with some other one…And those monsters came from it into ours. Or maybe there’s no such thing. Maybe, and more likely, those beings were from our world to begin with…If I hadn’t seen it, I would never have believed it, but now I know that there’s more to this world than we believe. And if we really start thinking about it, Sawamura…It’s really scary, isn’t it? _”_

_After a moment of silence in which the two simply stare at each other, Sawamura finally turns around and tells the one operating the camera to turn it off._

_-_

_When the camera is turned on again, the image shivers before the white ceiling of a room comes into view. A sharp turn of the camera shows a dirty, tailed floor next, before the device is sat onto the same table it had stood on the last time it was used._

_This time, on Tetsurou’s place sat someone else. Before him sat officer Sawamura, again with his back to the camera._

_“_ I’m really sorry that I had to take you out of the hospital so early, _” the officer was heard apologizing, as the camera image again jumps and shudders, before settling, “_ But this is necessary. I hope you aren’t in too much pain, the doctors said that your injuries are healing shockingly quick… _”_

 _“_ I understand that this is necessary and I have nothing against it, Sawamura-san, _” the young man before the officer politely speaks, “_ I feel good enough, so there’s no need to apologize…Just do your work. _”_

 _“_ Of course… _” Sawamura nods, coughs in his fist, then proceeds to look at the young man and begins the interrogation. “_ Because this conversation is being recorded, I would like you to introduce your self again. Name, age, address and occupation. _”_

 _“_ Of course, _” the male speaks confidently with a nod, “_ My name is Akaashi Keiji, I am twenty years old, I currently live in Chiyoda ward, Tokyo and study biology and zoology. Should I name my university? _”_

 _“_ That won’t be needed, thank you. _” Sawamura says, “_ Akaashi-san, three days ago you come to Miyagi with your friends for a two day stay in Date Hotel. You arrive late afternoon on Friday. _”_

 _“_ Correct. _” Keiji says with a nod._

 _“_ I want you to tell me what happened the night between Saturday and Sunday. From your point of view. _”_

_Keiji clearly hesitates. He doesn’t answer immediately. He takes his time to think over his answer, to gather his thoughts. Sawamura doesn’t pressure him. The officer patiently waits, lifting a hand to probably loosen his tie._

_When he speaks again, Keiji sounds as confident as before. His voice flows smoothly and every word is well in its place._

_“_ I woke up late, around midnight, _” he says, “_ I was feeling thirsty, so I got out of bed and went to the bathroom to get water. On my way back to the bed I stopped by the window to close the curtains, but I noticed that Kuroo-san’s car was missing. _” He stops to take a short breath and Sawamura waits for him, “_ I woke Bokuto-san, my…my boyfriend, up. We then went to wake Kuroo-san up, but we didn’t find him and Kozume in their room. We found them at the reception. _”_

 _“_ You couldn’t call for help from the hotel, therefore most of your friends went to take a car and go to the store down the road leaving you to look for the staff. _” Sawamura chimes in and Keiji nods._

 _“_ That’s right. Bokuto-san and I stayed in the hotel and went to look for the staff. We searched the first floor and went down to the spa and pool. _”_

 _“_ But you already knew that Kuroo-san’s car wasn’t on the parking lot. Why didn’t you tell them? _”_

 _“_ It really just…flew out of my mind. I wasn’t feeling good the past few days. I felt stressed and nervous and when we couldn’t find Shirofuku-san and saw the phone cable cut… _”_

_He makes a pause and when it is clear he isn’t going to continue, Sawamura urges him to go on with his story._

_“_ When we reached the pool and saw no one there, I told Bokuto-san about my fears and…bad feelings. I felt odd ever since we came to the hotel, but at first I thought it was just the bad weather. Kozume felt the same and I think Daishou-san did too. Bokuto-san didn’t really believe me. He told me to go to the store with Kuroo-san if they hadn’t left yet… _”_

 _“_ You knew they wouldn’t have left and there was no reason to leave Bokuto-san by the pool alone? _”_

 _“_ I didn’t really think about it then. Bokuto-san assured me that it would be fine and that he would go to the reception a few minutes after me. I believed him, so I left. _”_

 _“_ What happened next? _” Sawamura asks, leaning his chin on his folded hands._

_A long silence followes before Keiji speaks again._

_“_ I walked back to the first floor. I went out through something like a back door, figuring I would get to the parking lot quicker, but when I did, there was no one there, so I went back in through the same door. _”_

 _“_ How did you reach the closet in which you found Daishou-san after he was stabbed? _”_

 _“_ There’s a door up the hall towards the lobby. I thought that maybe someone would be there so I decided to check. The room was a storage for utensils and other things for the restaurant. It was fused with the storage in which I found Daishou-san. At first I didn’t know he was there, but then the lights began to flicker and I heard yelling, so I went to help him. _”_

 _“_ And you don’t know what stabbed him and got him so injured? _” Keiji shakes his head silently and Sawamura asks the next question, sliding a picture over the table for him to see, “_ This is the knife he was stabbed with, correct? We couldn’t find any other finger prints except yours and Kuroo-san’s. _”_

 _“_ Of course our finger prints will be on it. _” Keiji says with a frown, looking up at Sawamura, “_ I’m the one who took it out of him and through the whole night we protected ourselves with it. _”_

 _“_ I understand. _” Sawamura says with a nod, “_ After getting out of the closet, you dragged Daishou-san into the lobby so you can have a better view of his wound and find a way to better help him. Kuroo-san came moments after that. _”_

 _“_ That’s right. He told me about Bokuto-san. _”_

 _“_ Akaashi-san, my next question might seem offending, but it is my duty to ask it. Kuroo-san told us that from then on you spent the whole night in the lobby, behind the reception. I understand that your memory might be a bit mashed up due to the stress, but could you have gone somewhere else after dragging Daishou-san behind the reception? Did you perhaps go to the basement in search for the staff? Or did you go outside to see if you could start your other car? _”_

_Keiji looks up at Sawamura then, his brows furrow as he frowns. He looked more than insulted._

_“_ Are you implying that I might have killed Bokuto-san and assaulted Daishou-san? _” he coldly asks and Sawamura quickly shakes his head._

 _“_ This interrogation isn’t meant to accuse you, it’s meant to gather as much information from you as possible so we can make a valid theory about what truly happened. _”_

 _“_ I understand that, Sawamura-san, but I really don’t like the question you ask me. I could lie, but Kuroo-san and Kozume wouldn’t. I haven’t gone anywhere the whole night. None of us did. We were too scared to. _”_

 _“_ That’s all I needed to know. _” Sawamura again reaches up to his neck, as if to loosen his tie, before showing a few more pictures to Keiji, “_ You weren’t the only ones assaulted that night. In the basement of the hotel we found two corpses, burnt beyond recognition and in the forest not very near to the hotel we found the body of Nametsu Mai, a receptionist. We found a shoe belonging to Hisakawa Mika in the forest not far from the hotel fence where she vanished as well. But we couldn’t find Kuroo-san’s car or Shirofuku Yukie. _”_

 _“_ I can’t say what happened to Kuroo-san’s car or Shirofuku-san…But I’m sure that something in the hotel killed those in the basement and chased Nametsu-san out into the forest. That makes me believe that there was something with us the entire time despite our beliefs that they couldn’t get in unless we let them… _”_

 _“_ Then someone actually let _them_ in without you knowing? _”_

_Another moment of silence goes by, in which Keiji looks like he’s thinking again. This time Sawamura doesn’t wait for him to speak, rather continues with his questions._

_“_ Akaashi-san, because I have taken a personal interest in this case, I would like you to tell me what those _they_ are? _” he asks him, “_ I want to know what your theory is about the events in Date Hotel. Aside from what the police think. I already heard a pretty interesting theory from Kuroo-san. _”_

_Keiji stays silent for no more than a few seconds before looking at Sawamura._

_“_ I can tell you what I think…You wouldn’t believe me, but I can tell you. For me, the thing controlling that forest is fear and anxiety. It’s hate and disgust. It piles up through time and it takes over anyone who goes there. It’s capable of taking the form of the person’s deepest fear and destroy him from the inside. The trees up there…the forest…They see everything. They find a weak presence and devour it. They’ve always been there. We were just unfortunate enough to meat them in their fullest power. _”_

 _“_ What are _they_ , Akaashi-san? _”_

 _“_ … _Emotions_ , Sawamura-san. _” Keiji whispers, “_ Disgusting, human _emotions.”_

_Keiji looks down at the table then and the officer turns towards the camera operator, telling him to turn off the camera._

_-_

_The image of the camera shivers and jumps. The voices of the officer and the one he’s interrogating are muffled, but it doesn’t sound like they’re talking about something serious just yet. The boy taking the seat before the officer looks tense and fidgety. He doesn’t look directly at his interrogator, but his eyes dart all around the room, stopping on the working camera from time to time._

_“_ I’m sorry about the inconvenience and because we’re both definitely tired I’ll go ahead with the questions. _” The officer tells the boy, catching his attention, “_ Firstly, introduce your self. _”_

 _“_ Kozume Kenma… _” the boy begins, voice loud enough to be heard. “_ From Nerima, Tokyo. I study computer technologies. _”_

 _“_ Tell me what happened the night between Saturday and Sunday, from your point of view. _”_

 _“_ I…I woke up late. _” Kenma says, looking down at the table between him and the officer, “_ Daishou-san came knocking on our door, about the writing…I stayed with Kuro the whole night after that. _”_

 _“_ Unfortunately, I can’t interrogate Daishou-san. From what I’ve learned, in a brief moment you were left with him while Kuroo-san went to look for your friends. What happened in that time? _”_

_Kenma hesitates with the answer. His eyes fall on the camera again and his gaze lingers there before turning to Sawamura._

_“_ We heard a noise from a storage room in the lobby. _” He slowly answers, “_ Daishou-san made me stay on one of the little couches while he went to check. _”_

 _“_ Did you see anything strange? Did you hear anything from the hall? _”_

_Kenma mutely shakes his head._

_“_ How about Akaashi-san? _” Sawamura continues. “_ According to him, he entered another storage half fused with that in which Daishou-san went. Did you see him enter, or heard his steps in the hall? _”_

_Kenma again shakes his head._

_“_ Akaashi tried to help Daishou-san. _” He says, looking at the table again. “_ I don’t know what you’re implying. _”_

 _“_ I’m not implying anything. _” Sawamura quickly says with a short shake of his head. “_ As I told Akaashi-san, I’m not asking you all of this to accuse any of you. This is my work. I just want to get to the bottom of this case with your help. Are you sure you don’t remember anything? Any small detail can help. _”_

 _“_ I really don’t know… _” Kenma says, shaking his head. “_ I was with Kuro all the time, we didn’t go anywhere. Only Akaashi went from storage to storage to look for something to help Daishou-san with. _”_

 _“_ Then tell me, Kozume-san… _”the officer begins, “_ Aside from all the evidence, do you have a theory of your own? What do you think happened during your stay in the hotel? Akaashi-san told me something about bad feelings he was sure you had… _”_

 _“_ I did… _” Kenma reluctantly begins, fidgeting in his seat, “_ The moment we went to the hotel…I didn’t think much of it, I thought it was the weather. But then… _” he throws a quick, suspicious look at the camera before continuing, “_ I started seeing things. I tried telling Kuro, but he didn’t believe me. I tried warning him… _”_

 _“_ When you say you saw things, do you mean like the things you were attacked by? _”_

 _“_ It was similar. _”_

 _“_ What do you think those things were? Apparently they were powerful enough to kill the entire staff and guests the hotel had. Where do you think they came from? _”_

_Kenma doesn’t answer. He looks at the camera for a moment, looks up at Sawamura, before again looking at the camera._

_“_ I can tell you… _” he softly says, not looking away from the device, “_ But you’ll have to turn off the camera… _”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is it!!!~ I just wanted to say that I had a blast writing the last scenes with the camera. I got the idea from the movie Roseville, which I deeply recommend! If you can find it with english subs though, I'm not sure its out yet :/ Anyway! I hope this chapter was a good read! All of the mysteries in the whole story were revealed here and I hope I didn't disappoint you! ^^ By the way, I really like the idea of Kuroo and Kenma having a cat named Rintarou so I use it a lot when I write them as a couple (aka every time). The next two chapter will be closing, so not much will happen, but I still suggest you read them -3- The epilogue contains the actual end of the story so wait for it! Another thing, you have no idea how hard it is for me to write Kenma! I love him so freakin' much, but he's such a hard character!!! I really prefer Akaashi, I plan to torture him again next month xD Another thing, I saw someone giving Mika the surname Hisakawa in some fic and because I needed some king of a name here, I used it. It's really just a fan name, I would be down with whatever name Furudate gives her, but I doubt he will care enough to do it. Not to mention that we don't really know if that's her surname or her given one, but I bet its her given one...


	9. 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is very short, but it's the final chapter before the epilogue. It doesn't have any movement, just two episodes of their life after that I wanted to write very much! The last scene got me scared so many nights while I was thinking about it, I doubt it'll have the same effect on you, but still... ^^ I hope you like this! Thank you for reading!

They returned to Tokyo a week later after the investigation was closed and put in the file USOLVED. Mika, Yukie and Tetsurou’s car weren’t found, despite the day long searches in the forest. Aside from that, a camp was found not far from the hotel, completely abandoned, the tent torn, but with no other damage. That was another mystery which left a bunch of questions, the answers to which no one could give and probably never would.

 Suguru was admitted in a hospital close to his parents’ house. After Tetsurou tried to explain what had happened to them, leaving out a lot of details to spare their otherwise strained nerves, they took the care for him until he woke up a few weeks later. At first after waking up in an unfamiliar place, Suguru was confused. Then came a few days of depression and slow, painful recovery, but after that, with a lot of help, he managed to finally step back on his feet and somewhat forget what had happened in Date Hotel.

 In the mean time, Keiji and Tetsurou arranged Koutarou’s funeral.

 It took them a few more weeks, probably a month or two, to finally put their lives in some order. A week after Koutarou’s funeral, Tetsurou had invited Keiji to come and live with him and Kenma. It was a goodhearted offer. Tetsurou didn’t want to pressure him, he had told him that on the dinner he took him and Kenma to, just like he had promised. And Keiji found himself accepting the offer gladly. He couldn’t live in the apartment he shared with Koutarou anymore. It felt so empty and lonely. His nerves wouldn’t take anymore memories and nightmares, which left him trembling and cursing in the middle of the night. The bed felt too big, the couch too hard and the nights too cold.

 Deep down Keiji knew he deserved it. He deserved that loneliness and suffering, because he was the cause for it. His hands were stained with blood. He deserved every nightmare, every second of torture. But he wasn’t the type to take self punishment. One week was all he managed to take before finally having enough. Despite the secret he continued to keep hidden, Keiji knew he had to continue his life. That looked like it would be the biggest torture and punishment for him. The least he could do was make it bearable.

 And life did continue. Everything was the same. From day to night Keiji would study, Tetsurou would juggle work and studies while Kenma lazied around, pretending he had a lot to do, but always procrastinating. They fell in a certain rhythm which was much or less comfortable. At first Keiji was a bit uncertain about his relationship with Tetsurou, with Kenma there, but that lasted less than a week. After that everything became clear. Keiji didn’t have the nerve to doubt their relationship. He didn’t have the time to. With the desire to forget, he surrounded him self with work. He took classes he didn’t need, made projects that only served to fill the little time he had. And whenever he had an hour or two free, he cleaned the apartment and went grocery shopping. At night he would go to bed dead tired and would sleep like a log the whole night, safe from the insistent nightmares. Sometimes he didn’t even sleep.

 There were certain moments in his unhealthy life when he wondered about his night in the hotel. The experience seemed so fresh in his mind. He wasn’t the only one suffering from the memory. He sometimes wanted to ask Tetsurou about it, to talk to him, to discuss it with him, but always stayed quiet. They didn’t need the memory to be brought back right after they had tried to forget. Whatever had happened in the hotel had to stay there. They had agreed to that and it wasn’t Keij’s place to disturb their peace.

 With time, Keiji forgot. Not completely, but the memory was pushed somewhere deep in his mind where his thoughts didn’t normally reach. He definitely did feel happier as spring slowly arrived, melting the last traces of snow on the streets, but leaving just enough of cold wind to remind of the winter.

 

 It happened one day when he had decided to visit Koutarou. He did it much or less regularly. Bringing new flowers and changing the old ones. Keiji could stay by the fairly modest monument for hours if he had the time to spare. He normally came alone, not bothering to tell Tetsurou about his walks and visits.

 That day, while walking through the rows of large and small family monuments with a bouquet of colorful and happy flowers (he thought that if Koutarou was watching him from where ever he was now, if he was judging him for what he had done, then the least he could do was apologize with beautiful, but no _elegant_ or _formal_ flowers), Keiji had met an interesting woman. She stood praying over a grave, in the middle of the path. The edges of her thin white dress flew with the wind. The same warm wind played with her light hair, revealing her tired face, set in an expression of mock peace. She wasn’t particularly young, but she couldn’t have been that old either. In her mid thirties maybe, or a bit over forty.

 Once the woman was done with her silent praying, she seemed to notice Keiji’s presence so close to her. She left her hands fall over her hips and gracefully turned to face him. Her long eyelashes threw thin shadows over her high cheekbones and her sparkling eyes, the color of which varied between light blue and pastel green.

 The woman bowed lightly, a slow and graceful movement.

 “Hello.” She greeted and Keiji also bowed.

 “Hello.” He repeated like an echo, walking closer to the woman. He had to walk past her eventually.

 The woman took a moment to arrange her large hat, before turning towards the grave she was standing in front. While walking past her, Keiji took a glance at the monument. The name on it made him stop in his tracks.

  _Oikawa Tooru_.

 Having noticed his staring, the woman cleared her throat before softly speaking.

 “He was only twenty when it happened…The police said it was an accident.”

 Her voice was quiet and gentle, but it was enough to startle Keiji, who had fallen deep in his thoughts.

 “He went on a vacation with Hajime-kun.” The woman continued, “Away from town, in some hotel. It was supposed to be for a week, for their anniversary. Tooru called regularly for the first few days and then suddenly…”

 Keiji heard the woman’s voice hitch, but she continued none the less.

 “The police called us days later. To tell us that…They were gone. We asked what they meant, what had happened, but they didn’t answer us. They couldn’t. It’s been four years since then and we still have no answers. Tooru played volleyball, he was really good, even though I don’t understand it. He talked about how he wanted to play for the national team one day. Hajime-kun played too, for a while. But then life took him in a bit different direction. Tooru however had his ambitions. I told him not once that being a professional player wasn’t a job that guaranteed a stable future, but he always told me that…As long as he kept playing good, he would have enough money. He said that volleyball was his future and all he had to do was play at his best. But now…”

 Keiji saw the woman lift a gentle, thin hand, to wipe away the tears falling down her rosy cheeks. She sounded fully upset now, but despite the hiccups in her voice, she didn’t stop talking. Some things which Keiji knew and others he didn’t want to hear.

 “The grave is empty.” She softly said. “That over there too. It’s Hajime-kun’s. They didn’t bring us anything to bury. Nothing. It’s been four years and…And these graves are just here, empty! At first I hoped that it was a lie. A prank. That Tooru would show up on our door and would smile and tell us that they were on a vacation over seas. We would all be so mad and we would yell at them, but then we would just laugh and be happy again…That was the hope I lived with the first year, then the second…Now the only thing I want is to get something, anything from them to bury in those graves!”

 Keiji didn’t have the strength to comfort the crying woman. He understood her better than most. He lived through the same nightmare Oikawa Tooru had probably lived through. But there was nothing he could tell her, not even a single word of comfort. There was no way to comfort a person who had lost someone precious to them, he knew that first hand.

 Slowly, the woman began to calm. Her shoulders stopped heaving so furiously and her crying was reduced to soft sobs. She wiped her tears again before turning to Keiji.

 “I’m sorry.” She softly apologized, the edges of her lips quirking up in a barely noticeable smile, “I shouldn’t have done this. I’m sorry you had to listen to me.”

 “It’s no problem, don’t apologize.” Keiji said, looking down at his shoes. He couldn’t look the woman in the eyes. “I…I know what you feel. I hope you don’t think I’m insulting you when I say this, but I went through a similar situation. I’m sure I know what you’re going through.”

 “Thank you for listening.” The woman nodded and again turned towards the monument. She gracefully knelt down and reached out to carefully touch the petals of the flowers she had set over the grave. The same kind of flowers laid over the grave next to Tooru’s, Keiji noticed. “I haven’t talked about this for a very long time. I normally try not to think about them, but I have these…moments.”

 “I understand.” Keiji said with a slow nod. “I understand what you mean.”

 “I’m very sorry again.” The woman looks at him again over her shoulder with a small apologetic smile. “You’re here to visit someone too…”

 Keiji nods.

 “I am…” he lifts a hand and points towards the humble monument over Koutarou’s grave a few spots away. “My friend…It was an accident.”

 The woman’s smile disappears and she sadly nods, turning back to the flowers.

 “I’m very sorry, my condolences.”

 “It was long ago, but thank you. Are you…a close relative to Oikawa-san?”

 The woman nods again.

 “I’m his sister.” She replays, “If I have to be honest, we weren’t the closest. Our age difference was too big for that. But Tooru was very charismatic, you couldn’t help but love him.”

 “Bokuto-san was like that too.” Keiji softly says, “He was a bit of a handful but…He was a very likable person. He played volleyball professionally too. We used to play together in high school.”

 The woman smiles sadly, as she listens to him.

 “It’s good when you have only good memories.” She tells him, “Those are the only ones you should keep. With time, the bad ones fade, but the good stay.”

 “You’re right.”

 The two stay like that for a bit longer, enjoying the comfortable silence. The warm wind blows past them, surrounding them with the fragrance of spring. At times like these, Keiji doesn’t feel sad or depressed while visiting Koutarou. He couldn’t be when he knows the other’s watching him from whatever place he had gone to. Weather there was heaven or another place for the dead souls, Koutarou was there, and he watched over him. Or so Keiji wanted to believe. He had thought many times if Koutarou hated him. If even in his other life he felt betrayed and hurt. He desperately hoped he didn’t. That he had understood that it wasn’t Keiji’s fault…

 The woman, Oikawa-san, soon stands up with a short sigh and turns to look at Keiji.

 “Thank you very much for the company.” she says with a short bow. “I’m sorry for filling your head with my problems, it really wasn’t your…”

 Keiji lifts a hand to stop her with a polite nod.

 “I told you, I’m happy you decided to tell me of all people this. Thank you.”

 The woman nods and smiles.

 “I hope you manage to find happiness too. Oh, I didn’t learn your name…”

 “Akaashi. Akaashi Keiji. That’s my name.”

 The woman nods again.

 “I’m glad we met, Akaashi-san. I hope we meet again.”

 “We will.”

 Keiji managed a small smile before waving the woman off.

 He stood in front of Oikawa Tooru’s grave long enough for the woman to walk out of his sight. After that he took a flower out of the bouquet reserved for Koutarou and left in atop the marble slab. He left another flower on Iwaizumi Hajime’s grave before continuing towards Koutarou’s.

\---

Keiji had to buy a new phone three weeks after they returned to Tokyo. By that time he was already getting used to living with Tetsurou and Kenma. Their apartment wasn’t the biggest, but it was still bigger than most. The large living room was fused with the kitchen. The bathroom neighbored a small closet and the bedroom looked like an apartment of its own. The first few days Tetsurou cautiously slept on the couch whenever he needed. He rarely came home at night due to working night shifts, but when he did, he didn’t think twice before lying on the couch, while Kenma and Keiji shared the bed. Feeling like a burden however, Keiji had assured him that it wasn’t a problem if he slept in his bed and that he was okay with it. He even offered to sleep on the couch himself, but Tetsurou looked a bit too happy and the three quickly began to share the large bed in the bedroom.

 It was okay, Keiji had decided. And he had no time to complain, he made sure of that. At night he didn’t turn off the lamp on the bedside table, always closed the curtains and locked the door. Before that he made sure to lock Rintarou, Tetsurou and Kenma’s cat, somewhere so he didn’t come up to scratch insistently on the bedroom door in the middle of the night. Kenma was completely happy with the new bedtime rules and soon, locking up and letting either the TV or lamp, or both, work through the night became something like their ritual. It gave them the feeling of minimal comfort and safety.

 They had left the hotel with very few things of their original luggage. The only things Keiji took were his travel bag with his clothes and Koutarou’s pillow. They weren’t allowed to take much anyway, most of the things found in the hotel were kept by the police to help with the investigation. Keiji noticed that he had lost his phone long after he returned to Tokyo. He didn’t think much of it and even forgot that it was missing. He didn’t need anyone to call him. if Tetsurou needed anything, he either called or texted (which was a lot more regular, since Kenma originally didn’t like conversing over the phone) Kenma, who later told Keiji. Unlike him, Keiji was never the type to depend on phones. Most of his work was related with his laptop, so that was for now his most important belonging. The phone wasn’t needed.

 He had forgotten about the missing device until officer Sawamura showed up on their door, a little over two weeks after their return.

 Finding spare time between his university work, Keiji had decided to clean around, while Kenma locked him self in the bedroom to do whatever he normally did on cloudy afternoons. Hearing the ringing of the doorbell, Keiji had left the cloth he had been cleaning dust with on the glass table between the couch and the TV, before slowly walking towards the door. He spun the key in the keyhole once, took down the little chain and took a look through the peephole, blinking in surprise as he saw the friendly officer from Miyagi standing on the other side in civil clothes.

 Keiji quickly opened the door.

 “Sawamura-san, I wasn’t expecting you.” He said instead of greeting him. He really wasn’t expecting him. The way from Miyagi to Tokyo wasn’t little and the officer didn’t look like he was there to do work. His presence worried Keiji. He felt as if Sawamura had found out about his secret and was just waiting for him to spill it out on his own.

 Keiji’s throat felt dry at the thought. His heart sped up and he tried hard to look less guilty.

 Sawamura however seemed happy to see him. He must have been playing with him, surely, but that meant he was a better actor than policeman.

 “I’m glad to see you, Akaashi-san.” He said with a note of friendliness. “I wasn’t expecting you either…Do you live here as well?”

 “I moved.” Keiji shortly answered, slowly wiping his wet hands over his pants, “But why are you here? Is it something about the case?”

 Sawamura thought for a bit, before reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

 “There’s still no movement with it.” he answered, “I…I’ve been trying to work on it, even after it was closed, but there’s nothing more there can be done. What I’m here for is this.”

 Keiji blinked in confusion, wondering what _this_ was, as Sawamura reached in the pocked of his jacket. To his surprise he saw the officer fish out a quite familiar cellphone from his pocket. The severely cracked screen was something new, but there was no mistake that it was Keiji’s phone.

 “We found in the forest while looking for your friends and clues on who might have killed Nametsu.” Sawamura explained, as Keiji reached up to take his phone. “I didn’t know whose phone it was and we couldn't turn it on to find out. I’m glad you turned up here.”

 “The phone’s mine. I can turn it on and unlock it if you need it for your investigation…”

 Sawamura shook his head.

 “That won’t be needed. We found it in a pile of snow, so I’m guessing that even if it works, most of the information on it will be wiped out or damaged. There’s nothing we can learn from it either way.”

 Keiji nodded and opened the door wider for Sawamura. Despite wanting the officer to be gone as quickly as he had come, he had to play along and not bring up any suspicion.

 “You can come in if you want, Sawamura-san.” He invited, “I can make tea or coffee.”

 “No thanks.” The officer said with a smile, “I’m here with my husband. He has a bit of work and I tagged along. Ah! By the way, speaking of him…”

 Keiji again waited as Sawamura took something else out of his pocket and passed it to him. 

 “I’m sorry that I’ll have to mention the hotel again,” he began, as Keiji took the rectangular piece of white paper. “What happened there was definitely stressing and frightening. In that regard, if you need someone to talk to about it or need help moving on, my husband is a psychiatrist and regularly comes to Tokyo for work. That’s his business card, it had his number, so if you ever need anything…I’m sorry if this sounds insulting!...”

 “No, thank you.” Keiji quickly said, looking up from the card towards the officer, “Actually, I think I really should look for professional help…Some of us…Are taking it a bit harder than others.”

 Sawamura nodded, visibaly relaxing. For a moment he had thought that he had been a bit too harsh in offering the business card to Keiji.

 “I’m glad you think so.” He said with a small sigh, “I’m sure that what happened was pretty nerve wrecking. By the way, how’s Daishou-san? I didn’t have time to ask if he was recovering.”

 “Well…His family and friends are with him. He still hasn’t woken up and the doctors say that there are big chances he won’t. But we’re hoping. Kuroo-san actually visits him regularly.”

 Sawamura nodded and after another second passed, he again smiled at Keiji.

 “I’m glad I could be of some help.” he began, pushing his hands in the pockets of his jacket, “I’ll be here with my husband a few more days, you can call whenever you feel like it. I wish Daishou-san a quick recovery, I’m sure he’ll make it.”

 “I hope so.” Keiji said with a soft nod. “Are you sure you don’t want to come in?”

 “No, thank you very much, but Koushi’s waiting for me outside. I’ll be off now, take care.”

 The officer gives Keiji a quick bow and Keiji returns it, before waving him off. Sawamura walks confidently down the hall of the floor, his steps echoing around. When Keiji sees him disappear down the stairs, he closes the door and relocks it.

 He could finally relax again. Sawamura didn’t look like he knew about his secret and didn’t look like he would ever know. That made a huge rock fall from Keiji’s back.

 Walking back into the living room, Keiji decided to see if his phone still worked. He sat down on the couch, left the business card Sawamura had given him on the table and leaned back, expecting the device in his hands. The shattered screen didn’t look as bad as he had originally thought. Maybe it had chances to be repaired after all.

 Pressing the little button on the side of the phone, Keiji held it, waiting for the screen to flash. It took it a bit more than normally and he thought that it really couldn’t be turned on, but the screen did flash after a minute of waiting. After showing the brand of the phone, on the screen popped up the place where he had to enter the code. He quickly typed it, finding it surprising that he could. The device thought for a bit, before revealing Keiji’s background. A picture of him and Koutarou rolling in a pile of leafs in the park, which Tetsurou had jokingly taken while they were still together. Keiji sighed at the memory and decided to see if all his other pictures and files were damaged or erased, like Sawamura had thought.

 Sliding his finger over the screen, Keiji found his picture file. He opened it, waiting to see pictures of him and Koutarou, or pictures of animals and flowers, but the first thing he was met with were five new pictures he didn’t remember taking and two videos. That made Keiji raise a brow in question, leaning down to press his elbows on his knees.

 The photos were nothing special. Simply black, with nothing recognizable on them. All five photos were the same, as if they were taken in a completely dark room. Frowning, Keiji opened the first video. It was short and showed only darkness. It looked like it had been taken on accident. Keiji could hear a rustling sound and the perhaps the sound of someone walking through leafs and twigs, which cracked under their shoes. That was all he managed to understand of the video, long only a few seconds.

 By then, Keiji’s hands shivered. A small drop of sweat formed over his temple as he started the next video, which showed to be longer than the first. What frightened him was the fact that those videos and photos were taken at night, somewhere in the forest. And despite being on Keiji’s phone, which also was found somewhere in the forest, he couldn’t remember walking so far into it and returning in time to hurt Suguru. Something didn’t add up with his memories and what he found on his phone. There was something missing.

 The video again showed nothing but darkness. There was the sound of crunching leafs and twigs and Keiji turned up the sound to hear if there was anything else recorded on the video. There definitely was something else. Keiji could hear faint, surreal noises. Something was screaming and growling, but it was too faint to actually make out. It wasn’t a sound which a normal animal would make, that was for sure. Keiji studied zoology after all. He knew that much.

 Suddenly, the phone seemed to be lifted by who ever, or whatever, was holding it. The next thing Keiji saw made him shiver. Two sets of round, red eyes were staring right at the phone. It felt like they were staring at Keiji himself. The growling, screaming and crunching stopped, before one of the two creatures screamed angrily and jumped at the one holding the phone. Keiji couldn’t help but draw back then, as if the creature would emerge from his phone and attack him.

 That didn’t happen of course. The next thing the video showed was again darkness, but the sounds were a lot more interesting. Sounds of growling and screaming, joined with actual human screams from somewhere in the distance. The phone must have fallen on the ground then. It recorded another few seconds before the video ended. Whatever had happened after that, it must have broken the phone, forcing it to turn off.

 After the video ended, Keiji was left staring at the broken screen of the device. His throat was dry and his eyes wide. He probably looked pale and sick, he could feel cold sweat pooling at the base of his neck. Keiji reached up to wipe it away, as he licked his lips. He couldn’t be the one who had taken the photos and accidentally recorder the two videos. He hadn’t even thought of his phone through the night.

 The soft click of the bedroom door opening startled Keiji. He quickly threw the broken phone under a couch pillow before Kenma could see it and ask questions. He wiped his paled face and ran his hands through his hair just as Kenma entered the living room.

 “Someone was at the door.” he mumbled, walking closer to the couch. Keiji nodded.

 “Yeah, officer Sawamura.” He told him and saw Kenma raise a brow in question.

 “Why was he here?”

 “He came to ask how Daishou-san was and to pay us a visit. He said his husband had some work here and that he had time to waste.”

 “Why didn’t you invite him in?”

 “He was in a hurry.” Keiji made a pause, looking up at Kenma, “He left a business card. He told me that his husband was a doctor and could help with…the nerves.”

 “Do you still have nightmares?” Kenma quietly asked, stepping closer to Keiji, who again looked down at his hands between his thighs.

 “It’s not so real anymore…” he answered, just as quietly, feeling Kenma lean down towards him. He slowly wrapped his arms loosely around Keiji’s stiff shoulders in something just barely remind of a hug. It was comforting however. Keiji liked the little touches they sometimes shared. He was happy that Kenma did too and most of the time he was the one seeking them out of him.

 Taking a deep breath, Keiji allowed him self to slide his shivering hands over Kenma’s waist, not bothering to touch him further. He didn’t need more. He had enough right now.

 “I thought you could use the help too…Sawamura-san said he was good.” He softly said, leaning his forehead onto Kenma’s shoulder.

 “I don’t need a doctor.” Kenma quickly said, leaning his own head onto Keiji’s shoulder.

 “You can’t continue staying awake at night and sleep whenever you can’t keep your self awake anymore.” Keiji told him, frowning softly.

 “I can.”

 “You _can’t_. We can both use the help.”

 Seeing his humans share hugs without him, Rintarou, the normally reserved Siamese cat Tetsurou had one day brought home, jumped from his place on the window baseboard and, after stretching out his paws and long back, slowly walked through the carped towards them. Winning the cat’s approval was something else Keiji was proud of, mostly because it was a lot harder than it looked. Rintarou was easy to take care of. Mostly because he slept through half of the day, curled up either on Tetsurou’s pillow or on the window baseboard. Still, whenever Keiji found time to spare for him, Rintarou gave him the cold shoulder. He didn’t scratch him, nor did he hiss at him, but he definitely looked like he was taking Keiji for a lowly guest in his household. The only one he seemed happy to see was Tetsurou, who, despite loving his playtime with the cat, didn’t have so much time to spare for him. Kenma on the other hand plainly disapproved of the cat, but Keiji found their resemblance laughable.

 Once on the couch, Rintarou decided to find his place between his two humans. He jumped on Keiji’s knees and began pawing at Kenma’s chest. With a soft groan of annoyance, Kenma stood up just enough to push the animal away before looking back at Keiji.

 “Do you wanna go to bed?” he softly asked and Keiji nodded. It was barely three and he had so much to do, but he wouldn’t be able to concentrate, even if he tried.

 The two locked Rintarou in the living room and Keiji made sure he stayed awake until Kenma fell asleep. The moment he did, he slowly got out of bed and went back into the living room to throw out his broken phone and call the number on the business card Sawamura had given him.

 On the next day, Keiji bought a new phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing much to say, but if it cause confusion, the first part was set months after the second. Comment's are love, so please comment! Sorry for any spelling errors I might have made!!! Next chapter is the final one! I'm so happy!


	10. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally done! Enjoy this cuteness.

The heavy curtains are pulled over the fogged window. The bedside lamp is turned on, filling a small part of the bedroom with warm, yellow light. The flatscreen TV is also working and Keiji watches with amusement as the lone wolf from the documentary he’s watching chases a deer through the deep snow of North America. The heavy voice of the speaker mixes with the light tune of Kenma’s game, as the soft noise of the rain outside fill the background.

 The low rumbling of thunder breaks the silence of the night just as the digital alarm clock on the bedside table shows half past one. Keiji barely noices the change. He is completely engulfed in the running documentary. He is comfortable lying in the soft bed, half covered with the light covers. It’s neither too warm, nor too cold and Kenma’s presence also calms him. The time is perfect and the athmosphere is enjoyable, despite the late hours.

 Keiji is almost ready to doze off, head resting against his arm, when he hears Kenma groan from where he’s siting crosslegged beside him. For a second Keiji wonders if he’ll replay the level he might have just lost, like he did so many times, but instead, Kenma turns off his PSP and sets it on the nightstand with annoyance. Keiji doesn’t look at him as he shifts on his side of the bed. He lets Kenma get comfortable, while he continues to watch his documentary.

 Keiji doesn’t mind it when Kenma moves to lie close beside him, one slender arm wrapping around his middle. He doesn’t complain, nor does he move to question Kenma’s sudden touchiness. He quite enjoys it even. Keiji knows, ever since he met him, that Kenma was a hard to deal with character. He was the exact opposite of either Koutarou or Tetsurou. With him, Keiji needed patience. He needed to sence his boundries and be careful not to overstep them. Kenma didn’t like talking in general. That’s why Keiji didn’t attempt conversations when he could just sit beside him. When Kenma needed attention, he knew how to get it. Keiji didn’t have to worry that, engulfed in work, he would forget him. There were certain rules he had to follow when dealing with Kenma, but once he understood them, their relationship was settled.

 Keiji’s relationship with Kenma was slow. It was comforting, platonic. Their mere presence around each other was enough. It wasn’t love, Keiji had figured. The thing between them was trust and attachment. They slept together, talked, went shopping together (in the good days in which Kenma decided to go out), watched TV together. Whenever Keiji was busy in the kitchen, Kenma settled on the kitchen table. Whenever he studied in their bedroom, Kenma layd on the bed and played his game. They sometimes hugged and kissed, but Keiji was always careful not to initiate it first. He somehow managed to understand when Kenma was touch starved and when he felt uncomfortable from it.

 Sliding his hand carefully over Kenma’s, which rested over his stomach, warming him through his thin shirt, Keiji thought about his relationship with Tetsurou. He called that _love_. It was passionet and burning. With Tetsurou Keiji felt protected and happy. They sometimes yelled at each other when the stress grew, sometimes Tetsurou slept on the couch, while Keiji sat on their bed and cursed himself. But in the morning, when Keiji woke up from his uncomfortable sleep, he would go in the kitchen and see Tetsurou making coffee and breakfast. They would silently apologize, sometimes they would kiss, and every harsh word, every angry shove or hit would be forgotten. Tetsurou made Keiji feel special. With words or actions, it didn’t matter. If the thing he had for Kenma was strong attachment and the urge to care for him, then the same urge was mixed with burning love for Tetsurou. And really, Keiji couldn’t be happier with his current life. Some things he missed, others not, but given the circumstances, Keiji felt good…

 For second he had dozen off, but the voice of the narrator wakes him up and Keiji blinks tiredly, trying again to focus on his documentary. He notices that a different one is running now, the one about the lone wolf having ended while he was distracting himself with thoughts. Kenma is breathing softly behind him and Keiji tries hard not to move, so he won’t wake him. Instead he continues to softly trace patterns over the back of his hand, still resting over his stomach. If Keiji closed his eyes right now, if he left his head touch the soft pillow Koutarou had once slept on, he would fall asleep in an instant. But he doesn’t. He has to be awake so he could welcome Tetsurou when he comes back home, positively tired from work. Keiji sometimes worries about him. Studying at day and working at night isn’t the best, but there’s no other way for Tetsurou to organize his life better. Keiji worries, but the way he does things isn’t any better or healthier.

 A documentary about the big cats in Africa follows that of the north American life and Keiji tries to banish the sleep, listening to the narrator as the summer rain picks up outside. He feels Kenma shift closer to his back before settling again and that makes him smile. Because Kenma is generally so closed and maybe just a bit shy and such acts of trust warm Keiji’s heart.

 He dozes off again and this time, it’s for a lot longer.

 

 After the night in the hotel, Keiji’s sleep had gotten a lot lighter. That’s why they locked Rintarou somewhere away from their bedroom. If he showed up at night and began scratching on the door behind which his humans were hiding, Keiji would jump out of the bed, ready to run from the nightmares outside. That’s why they kept the bedside lamp always turned on and the curtains always closed.

 When Keiji woke up again it was already half past three. Soft fingers were running through his hair gently, but, lost in the confusion of just waking up, Keiji’s first reaction was to try and sit up, hands coming up to protect himself from whatever was cerassing him in his sleep. His heart began to thump loudly in his cheast in panic right before he saw Tetsurou sitting on the bed beside him. A hand reached out to wrap around his shoulders, trying to get him to lye down again as Tetsurou shushed him softly.

 “It’s okay, it’s just me.” He whispered, again running his fingers through Keiji’s hair as the later began to relax. “Everything’s alright, see? There’s nothing here, just me. I’m sorry, I didn’t think I’ll wake you…”

 “I’m sorry.” Keiji whispered back, leaning up on his elbow as his heartbeat settled and his breathing was again back to normal. He looked behind him, only to find Kenma still peacefully asleep, his hand still drapped over Keiji’s middle.

 With a little smile, Keiji gently moved Kenma’s arm beside him and moved away just slightly to lift the light covers over his shoulder. He then looked worriedly at Tetsurou, who sat back and watched the warm scene before him.

 “It was raining outside, are you wet?” Keiji asked quietly. Tetsurou only shook his head before standing up and stretching his arms above his head.

 “Kai dropped me here, so I’m good.” He answered, “I’m sorry I woke you up again.”

 “Don’t be sorry, I have to be apologizing for being so jumpy. Do you want anything to eat? Something to drink?”

 Tetsurou smiled at him and shook his head, hiding the short snort of laughter bubbling in his throat.

 “It’s almost four in the morning. The only thing I need is a shower and sleep.”

 Keiji nodded and settled back into bed, as Tetsurou turned to walk towards the bathroom. After finding the remote beside his pillow, Keiji turned off the TV just as the invisible narrator explained about the habbits of the polar fox.

 He laid his head on the pillow and listened to the sound of the working water in the bathroom. At times like these, Keiji felt so calm. With everyone in the apartment he knew so well by now. He was surrounded by so many familiar things he loved. Keiji knew that Tetsurou and Kenma were safe, knew there was nothing to fear. At times like these all his anxiety and worries flew out the window, allowing him to indulge in the warmth of the moment. There was no need for constant nightmares, his heart didn’t have to beat in fright everytime he heard the slightest creak and he didn’t have to worry every time Kenma took a bit longer in the bathroom. He wasn’t lonely and he wasn’t scared of the nothing. At times like these Keiji wasn’t even sorry for his night in the hotel.

 When Tetsurou came back in the room, dressed in only his underwear and a thin T-shirt, Keiji was pleasantly relaxed under the covers and ready to sleep. He watched as Tetsurou dried his now flat hair, before throwing the wet towel over the chair reserved for their clothes beside the table over which sat the TV.

 “I’ll go lock Rintarou and…” he began to say, already turning towards the door, before Keiji raised a hand to stop him.

 “Don’t.” he quietly said, his words causing Tetsurou’s braw to lift in confusion. “Don’t lock the door either. It’s fine.”

 “Are you sure?” Tetsurou asked and Keiji quickly nodded.

 “I…I’m fine. Just come over here.”

 A small smile stretched over Tetsurou’s face and he didn’t hesitate to walk to the bed and sit down on the hard mattress. Keiji watched as he got under the covers and got ready to bury his head under his pillow. One spare already lay on the floor for when Tetsurou actually needed its weight on his head along with his own during the night. While Keiji continued to wake up from every little sound, he had found his own way of coping with the lightness of his sleep, but it wasn’t like that was some new habbit. Tetsurou was originally a light sleeper.

 “Turn off the light.” Keiji softly said right before Tetsurou wished him good night. His words made the older look at him, eyes widening as he stared at Keiji.

 “Are you _sure_?” he asked again and Keiji nodded, leaning up just lightly to kiss him sleepily.

 “Good night.” He said instead of answering and quickly closed his eyes. He didn’t see Tetsurou’s smile when he reached up to turn off the bedside lamp before settling.

 “Good night.” He also wished before covering his ears with his two pillows like he did every night.

 Keiji smiled too, breathing softly. On the edge of his dreamless sleep, he felt Kenma edge closer to him and again wrap an arm around his middle as he breathed softly over the skin of his neck. The last thing Keiji heard was Rintarou quietly walking into the room, towards their bed, and jumping on the mattress his humans shared, only to curl between Tetsurou and Keiji before both fell in a nightmare free sleep, surrounded by comforting warmth and the smell of home.

 Sometimes Keiji wondered what he had done to deserve something so precious. The love people chaced all their lives and sometimes never got was pouring on him even though he was the biggest sinner in the world. But he didn’t think long on it. He enjoyed it and indulged in it. He chased it.

 But sometimes Keiji also wondered about the itching he sometimes felt on his palms, as he layd on the bed between Tetsurou and Kenma. It was odd and uncomfortable and insistant. He wondered where it came from and why it disappeared so quickly. It wasn’t caused by bugs or allergies. It showed up once or twice a week and disappeared just as quickly as it had come. It wasn’t harmful and it never showed up during the day, so Keiji kept him self from discussing it or thinking about it more than needed.

 Though he also wondered why he heard Rintarou coming in their room somewhere around half past five, when the same Rinatrou was still lying between him and Tetsurou...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp...Finally done with this. I had so much to say, but I cant say anything now! First and foremost - I'm disappointed that this got little to no recognition. It's almost perfect, unlike Dead End! That trash got more love than this and I gave my all to write it! But, I aint mad. I'm glad I have this idea put out and I'm glad it got the recognition it did. It's better than nothing. Originally I had a different ending in mind, but this does it too. I hope you liked it, I still hope you can comment and just tell me what you think. Sorry it took me so long to post it, but I had no internet and could't. I'll post a one-shot slightly tied to this, so I hope you get to read it too! See ya later and I hope you check out my other fics!


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